SALT LAKE CITY — One person was killed in an avalanche in Little Cottonwood Canyon on Tuesday.
Around noon, an avalanche was reported in the Davenport area. It is unknown what triggered the avalanche, but it was considered a “large” one, the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office said.
Deputy Arlan Bennett confirmed one person was dead, and that person’s body was recovered. The person appears to have been alone, officials said.
The Utah Avalanche Center said the person killed was a 54-year-old man who had been traveling in the Silver Fork area originally in Big Cottonwood Canyon. The man was most likely caught in the slide Tuesday morning, the center said.
A skier from another party noticed a recent avalanche with one track and reported it to Alta Central, the agency said. Rescue crews searched the area and found the “deeply buried” man with an avalanche transceiver.
Bennett said investigators are unsure what the person was doing when they were caught up in the slide. The deceased’s identity has not been released.
The Cottonwood canyons and other parts of the Wasatch Mountain backcountry remain in an avalanche warning, which was first issued on Friday when danger rose to “high” as water-heavy new snow fell on top of “weak, preexisting faceted snow” on the ground.
An Alta site monitored by the National Weather Service received more than 3 feet of new snow since Christmas Day, mirroring other parts of the Cottonwood canyons.
The warning notes that both human- and naturally-triggered avalanches are likely all across the Wasatch Mountains. People are urged to stay away from areas near slopes steeper than 30 degrees.
This is the second avalanche fatality in the last three days in an area under an avalanche warning. An overdue hiker from Canada was killed in an avalanche in Millcreek Canyon Saturday, and his body was recovered Tuesday.
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