Big Cottonwood Canyon, Utah — On a weekend with its share of avalanches in Utah, even inbounds, a skier nearly saw a catastrophic outcome due to a dumb decision.
Yesterday, Solitude Mountain Resort reported that they had to respond to an avalanche that was triggered by a guest in Honeycomb Canyon. What frustrated the ski resort was that the individual ducked a rope in closed terrain due to recent snowfall. With how inconsistent snowfall has been this winter, that was a reckless decision by that person.
In addition, Solitude revealed that people have been ducking ropes consistently this season, resulting in delayed lift and terrain openings. For those caught ducking a rope, you could lose your pass for at least thirty days and face a Class D misdemeanor, which could include up to six months of jail time and a $1000 fine.
Saturday ended up being a brutal day for avalanches in Utah. In Big Cottonwood Canyon, an avalanche in the Cardiff Fork/Silver Fork area resulted in one person being killed and another person being injured. Three people were involved in an avalanche in the infamous Dutch Draw area outside the skiable boundary at Park City Mountain Resort. Luckily, nobody was severely injured or killed by that slide.
Image Credits: Solitude Mountain Resort
