The Utah Avalanche Center reports avalanche danger in northern and central Utah is considerable. Two avalanches on Dec. 28 and Dec. 31 claimed two lives — both men were traveling in the backcountry alone.
Wasatch County Search and Rescue Commander Kam Kohler told KPCW the most important thing to do when headed out is to know where you’re going, tell somebody where you’re going and actually go there.
“We do get a significant number of calls that it will be 10 o'clock at night and, ‘My husband didn't make it back to Salt Lake,’” he said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour.” “‘Well, where did he go?’ ‘Well, he went up by Heber somewhere.’ That actually happens too often. And then we start the needle-in-the-haystack search, and, frankly, waste a lot of time on the front end trying to narrow down where your truck is.”
Kohler said Wasatch Search and Rescue volunteers deal with this type of situation at least a dozen times every winter.
He said it is just as important to be prepared and know the type of gear needed. Rescuers have encountered many snowmobilers without the proper gear because they were only going out for an hour but ran into trouble. He said often people don’t anticipate weather changes and end up out after dark.
Recreators should also know the avalanche conditions and be able to recognize the signs of danger.
“Utah Avalanche Center, their motto is ‘know before you go,’” Kohler said. “I love that, because if you're going to go into the backcountry, know what you're doing before you go there. Don't go in and expect ‘Oh yeah, I’ll figure it out when I get there.’ You might find yourself in a life and death situation just because you put yourself in harm's way without really knowing.”
Kohler said an avalanche beacon is critical. Snowmobilers, skiers and snowboarders should not go into the backcountry without one.
“It's about the size of a mobile phone, and you wear it around your body, and it sends off a signal so that somebody can find you,” Kohler said. “If you and I are together and you get buried, I can find you really quickly.”
Kohler said the beacons use a universal channel and good ones have about an 80-meter range. Life Flight helicopters use long-range beacons that can reach more than 100 meters.
He urges people to prepare for the situation, anticipating it won’t go according to plan. That way they are always prepared in the event of an emergency.
