In a fourth straight day with road closures for snow danger in Little Cottonwood Canyon, an avalanche at Snowbird Resort forced people to shelter once more Thursday afternoon.
Snowbird announced the avalanche occurred naturally on Mount Superior, outside of resort boundaries. It crossed the canyon road, into the resort on the Chickadee run near the resort’s base area and tram.
Snowbird Communications Manager Sarah Sherman said crews confirmed no people were underneath the snow. They used avalanche rescue dogs, radar technology and a probe line to search.
Around the time of the announcement, Snowbird and Alta stopped running lifts and ordered everyone indoors for interlodge, which requires people to stay inside by law.
It wasn’t the first avalanche of the day and was hardly the first of this week. Interlodge was in effect earlier Thursday before 9 a.m. as well. When it was safe, Snowbird opened some of its lifts. Next door, Alta Ski Area also opened to skiers already on site before closing for interlodge after the slide at Snowbird. Alta did not open Tuesday or Wednesday.
S.R. 210, the road through Little Cottonwood Canyon, was already closed all day for avalanche debris clearing and mitigation.
