The city-owned Bonanza Flat open space is a popular winter recreation area accessed from the Guardsman Pass Road south of Park City. During winter months, the road has a gate, with homeowners living in Brighton Estates allowed limited vehicle access.
Since the City purchased the land in 2017, designating it as a conservation area, users have flocked there to recreate.
This month, the Utah Avalanche Forecast Center installed a 'beeper board' below the gate to remind people entering the backcountry that avalanches are possible. Park City Open Space and Trails Coordinator Logan Jones said the beeper system helps educate people that avalanches are prevalent in the backcountry south of Park City.
"So, we're really excited to install that. And I think it's just a great reminder to people you know, you, and you're necessarily going to be crossing much avalanche terrain as you kind of ascend, you know Marsac per se, because they do control the areas in the resort that are on either side of the road. But as you go up into Bonanza Flat, there is a lot of avalanche terrain towards the Clayton Peak and 10-420."
The avalanche beeper board is solar-powered, so when a person walks past it and their avalanche beacon is on, it will trigger the board to flash green. If someone walks past the beeper board without their beacon turned on, or if beakers are operating improperly, the board will flash red.
Jones said the city recently hired a new staff person with ties to the Utah Avalanche Forecast Center. Although not a beeper board, an avalanche warning sign is now at the bottom of Daly Canyon, located south of Park City's Main Street. In 2004, a snowshoer was caught and killed in an avalanche above Daly Canyon.
"What our department always tries to do is encourage the passion of our staff, and one of the staff members really had the connection with Utah Avalanche Center and pushed to try to get these signs up. And I totally thought it was a great idea."
Jones said the city wouldn't groom the Nordic trail on the Bonanza Flat open space until later this season.
"Because we only have one snowcat and Round Valley currently has a good snowpack. We are using it there. That really takes a lot of resources with the number of miles and trails out there--Nordic trails and single-track grooming that we do out there. But I think what we'll do is just kind of be watching that. Watching the snow conditions and as things may melt out in Round Valley, we can kind of shift resources up to Bonanza."
He said the trails team plans to groom Bonanza Flat later this winter when Round Valley melts out, hoping to extend Nordic skiing and snow biking into the mud season.