After a deadly avalanche in the Millcreek area this weekend, another group had a close call in the Uintas.
A snowmobiler shared his close encounter with an avalanche on Facebook with videos (videos contain language that some might find offensive).
Miles Penrose, a Draper resident, said he was riding in the Uintas Saturday with his two brothers and a group of friends.
He felt the mountain shake in what he thought was an earthquake. He says as the wall of snow approached he realized it was an avalanche. Penrose triggered his avalanche backpack, but unfortunately had forgotten to turn it on so it didn’t deploy.
He was carried by the snow, but was able to stay on top of it and was only buried to his lower chest. He followed the sound of his brother’s voice, and was able to dig him out of the snow. According to the post, the others in his group also made it out safely.
Nikki Champion is a forecaster with the Utah Avalanche Center. She says the avalanche happened at Moffit Creek in the Uintas.
According to the center’s website, the slide happened at 9,600’, and it’s still unclear if there were three separate or one larger slide.
The Unita avalanche happened the same day as the Millcreek avalanche near Gobblers Knob, where four backcountry skiers died.
Champion said there were eight skiers involved in the avalanche.
“So there was a party of three lower and a party of five,” Champion said. “Both parties were traveling uphill when an avalanche was remotely triggered from above. Six people were caught and carried. So the three lower and three from the upper party. And six were fully buried from those six. Two from the lower party recovered and survived. One did not make it and then from the upper party, all three that were caught and carried did not survive as well.”
While forecasters said skiing on slopes less than 30 degrees is generally safe, Champion noted even though the area was just a degree steeper, there was still a risk of an avalanche.
“That slope had varying terrain of steeper and less steep areas, where the crown broke was 31 degrees though,” she said. “So a problem that we've got right now, this persistent weak layer, we always say that it can be triggered from lower on the slope. This is what we mean. You can see it triggered right at that 31 degrees.”
The Utah Avalanche Center will release the full report later this week.
These avalanches follow two other fatal backcountry accidents in Summit County last month.
Avalanche conditions remain considerable with a persistent weak layer in the snowpack throughout the state. With more snow and wind in the forecast, the risk of avalanches - and those venturing into the backcountry - will rise again.
