Ski patrol members at Alta Ski Area were conducting avalanche mitigation yesterday following a huge storm cycle that hit the Wasatch. The videos below show them triggering a massive slide on East Greely using explosives.
Pay attention the left-side of the videos near the cliff outcrop. You can see two black dots that are ski patrollers getting caught in the slide. It appears that they weren’t buried, but it’s safe to say that they didn’t intend on taking a ride down the mountain this way.
Wasatch Snow Forecast is reporting that the crown of the avalanche is 9′ tall!
Another view of the triggered slide at Alta! 💥 pic.twitter.com/49BZTKeU2K
— Chase Thomason (@ChaseThomason) January 2, 2022
Another view of the slide on East Greeley (Backside) at @AltaSkiArea this morning. This was triggered by ski patrol with explosives.
Video by @aha_rper pic.twitter.com/cOH5TWAn1F
— Utah Daily Snow (@WasatchSnow) January 2, 2022
Let these videos be a friendly reminder to thank a ski patroller the next time you see one! They risk their well-being on a daily basis for the sake of skiers and snowboarders (well I guess only skiers at Alta Ski Area… sorry snowboarders).