SUNDANCE — At least three young men were missing and presumed dead Friday evening after an avalanche trapped them in Provo Canyon.
In all, as many as 15 snowboarders and snowshoers were caught in the slide near Aspen Grove, a few miles west of Robert Redford's Sundance Ski Resort.
Most of the victims were either able to dig themselves out or were rescued after the slide. However, search and rescue crews could not find three Utah County men, who were apparently trapped under the snow.
"It's extremely unlikely that they will survive," said Utah County Sheriff's Lt. Dave Bennett. "When the snow stops, it sets up like concrete."
At 8 p.m., crews called off the search for the missing boarders, ages 18, 19 and 20, due to the high winds and extreme avalanche danger facing rescuers.
"If they're still buried, their time's up," noted a bartender at Sundance's Owl Bar, as temperatures outside were expected to drop well below freezing overnight.
The sheriff's office plans to use a helicopter to drop avalanche bombs in the area today before deciding whether to send more search crews up this morning.
The missing three, who names were not released Friday, were part of a group of five snowboarders who took the brunt of the avalanche. The other two in the party, also from Utah County, survived after being rescued.
An 18-year-old was buried only to his armpits and was otherwise uninjured, while a 20-year-old, who was completely buried until rescued, was taken to a local hospital with a leg injury and hypothermia, Utah County Sheriff's Sgt. Dennis Harris said.
The slide occurred near the start of the Mt. Timpanogos summit trailhead, about a half-mile from the Aspen Grove lodge, a popular Brigham Young University alumni recreation site. The avalanche came down the Roberts Horn chute and swept up the 15 people, who were either in the avalanche chute or just below it.
The chute, about a half-mile long, is a common location for avalanches, but the vicinity is rarely, if ever, closed to backcountry enthusiasts.
"I don't know if we've ever closed it," Bennett said.
Utah County Sheriff Jim Tracy added: "This is a wilderness area. For those who use it, it's user beware."
Sheriff's officials said they didn't think the snowboarders caused the slide but that the cascade of snow started naturally from above.
In total, three slides came down the chute, but the first was likely the largest and probably buried the three snowboarders in anywhere from four to 14 feet of powder.
At one point, search and rescue dogs seemed to pick of the scent of a missing snowboarder. However, crews using long poles to probe the snow in that area couldn't find anything.
"We were looking for anything sticking out of the snow," Bennett said.
The surrounding area has many back-country trails and is frequented by skiers, snowboarders and snowshoers in winter. Many of those trails are often closed because of the avalanche danger, officials said.
In Utah, avalanche-related deaths have been on the rise since a four-year period between 1988-91 when no fatalities were reported, according to the Utah Avalanche Center, which is run by the U.S. Forest Service.
All told, 41 avalanche fatalities have been reported in Utah since 1992, according to the center, which has logged 69 such deaths since record-keeping began in 1951.
Friday morning the Utah Avalanche Center issued an avalanche advisory for the Wasatch Mountains, noting conditions were prime for major slides.
"Although we might be in the Christmas season, the snowpack is pure Halloween," the advisory noted. "Today, expect to easily trigger avalanches anywhere from small powder sluffs (sloughs) to deep soft-slab avalanches, especially in wind-affected areas."
Those dangerous conditions were expected to continue today.
None of those caught in Friday's slide were equipped with avalanche beacons, which emit signals that allow rescuers to locate buried victims, sheriffs officials said.
The avalanche center notes that such beacons are often key to successful rescues, and those who plan to explore Utah's backcountry in winter should equip themselves with such equipment.
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