The Dec. 31 avalanche happened during the morning on the north side of Davenport Hill in the Silver Fork Drainage area of Big Cottonwood Canyon.
According to the Utah Avalanche Center (UAC), it was a soft slab of snow that failed on a loose layer of faceted snow that developed earlier in the winter.
The avalanche was about 300 feet wide and 2 feet deep and traveled 400 vertical feet.
“He was swallowed up by the thing and buried 20 feet deep. That's, again, I'll say 20 — he was buried 20 feet deep — and did not survive. 54-year-old male,” UAC forecaster Drew Hardesty said.
Another party skiing to the south saw a track leading into the avalanche debris and called rescuers.
Rescuers found the snowboarder using an avalanche transceiver.
Hardesty said the avalanche was reported at the same time a medical helicopter was in Millcreek Canyon recovering a 38-year-old male from Quebec, Canada, who’d been missing since Dec. 28.
“He was traveling solo,” Hardesty said. “And so there's a great deal of mystery and unanswered questions regarding that.”
He was also buried and killed by an avalanche in the Porter Fork area of Millcreek and found by what the UAC called a “good Samaritan.”
The UAC says it is collecting information to produce final reports on the Dec. 28 and Dec. 31 fatalities.
It had issued an avalanche warning Friday, Dec. 27, through New Year’s Eve due to a winter storm. Forecasters say the new snow fell on top of loose, faceted snow across northern Utah.
Facets are crystalline snowflakes that don’t stick together. The heavy storm snow can slide off the layer of facets and avalanche.
“At this point we just are recommending people avoid being on or underneath steep terrain that harbors this old, weak, faceted snow,” Hardesty said. “And if you're not educated, you can't recognize terrain, you can't look at the structure, you just can't be on steep terrain that's facing west, north or east. There's just no way. And let things settle out. May be a while.”
As of Jan. 1, avalanche danger was “considerable,” due in part to that persistent weak layer. More snow is expected throughout the week.
