An avalanche that broke loose Saturday afternoon above Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon killed one ice climber and seriously injured another.
Meanwhile, another slide in Big Cottonwood Canyon buried a woman for more than an hour before searchers located and revived her. (See story on A6.)The Provo Canyon slide was one of many that closed Provo and American Fork canyons and kept law enforcement officials scrambling to evacuate travelers and recreationists Saturday. Heavy rain made the avalanche danger in both canyons extremely high.
Killed was a 27-year-old man from Silverton, Colo. Utah County Sheriff's officials were not releasing the victim's name Saturday night because his family had not been notified.
Scott Lee, 25, Sandy, suffered head, chest and back injuries and was listed in serious condition Saturday night at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center.
Sheriff's Lt. Ron Fernstedt said the two men were climbing the ice on the upper falls when a slide released above them and knocked them off the falls. Both men, who were connected by a climbing rope, were swept several hundred feet down steep terrain by snow and debris. The two came to rest in a patch of oak brush a few hundred feet above the canyon floor. Neither was totally buried.
The avalanche passed over three other climbers in a separate party who were below the frozen falls. Those men called 911 on a cellular telephone and helped rescue Lee and lead Utah County rescue workers to his fatally injured partner.
Efforts by emergency workers to revive the Colorado hiker were unsuccessful. Fernstedt said the man likely died from massive head and internal injuries suffered in the fall.
A heavy downpour at the time hampered rescue efforts. It took emergency workers almost an hour to reach the climbers and about two more hours to evacuate them from the mountain.
"The rain made rescue efforts quite difficult, but our people are trained to work in that kind of environment," Fernstedt said.
While rescue workers were tending to the fallen hikers, two other snowslides broke loose across the highway on the north side of the canyon. Both slides stopped about 50 feet from the road but had reporters, onlookers and other emergency workers scrambling to their vehicles. A short time later a fourth slide released on the west side of Bridal Veil Falls, only a few hundred feet from the rescue scene.
Sheriff's deputies quickly closed the canyon and evacuated all motorists. Fearing more avalanches, rescue workers hurried off the mountain and out of the canyon.
"Everybody just got out of there as fast as they could," Fernstedt said.
American Fork Canyon was closed at about the same time after several slides broke loose there. Deputies spent several hours warning snowmobilers and people tubing in the canyon of how dangerous conditions had become. One slide blocked a parking area near Tibble Fork Reservoir, and some who fled the canyon had to abandon their vehicles.
Provo Canyon was reopened at about 7 p.m. Saturday. American Fork Canyon remained closed Saturday night.
Saturday's weather also contributed to a three-car collision on U.S. 6 in Spanish Fork Canyon that occurred at about 3 p.m. Six people were transported to Mountain View Hospital in Payson with serious injuries, but reportedly none of the injuries was life-threatening.