A Salt Lake City skier died Sunday evening after being dug out from an avalanche at Snowbird ski resort earlier that afternoon.
Heather Gross, 27, was pulled from the avalanche after spending almost an hour beneath 5 feet of snow. AirMed transported Gross to the University Hospital in critical condition. She was pronounced dead later that evening from injuries sustained in the accident said Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder.
The avalanche was called in just before 12:30 p.m. Sunday by Gross' companion, who used a cell phone to report the slide. Gross was removed from under the snow at 1:18 p.m., said Levi Hughes, public information officer with the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office,
Resuscitation efforts were under way as an AirMed helicopter arrived to transport her, Hughes said.
Using a pole technique rescuers were able to locate Gross beneath the snow on the west face of High Baldy, an area on the resort's eastern-most side that opened on Sunday for the first time this year.
Search and Rescue teams responded from Salt Lake County, Snowbird Ski Patrol and Wasatch Back Country Search and Rescue to assist in combing the area for other possible victims. The search was concluded before 4 p.m. What triggered the avalanche was not immediately known.
Snowbird spokesman Dave Fields said avalanche warning signs were not posted in the area, but earlier in the morning avalanche control teams had used explosive hand charges near High Baldy slope. Fields said Snowbird will be reviewing its activity logs for High Baldy for a full evaluation.
Snowbird received an estimated 15 inches of new snow from the weekend storm that was pushed into the valley by a cold front from the north.
The Utah Avalanche Center had issued an avalanche advisory Sunday morning that rated danger at the "upper moderate" level for the area, but notes in its postings that advisories do not extend to "ski areas or highways where normal avalanche control is normally conducted."
Another skier was injured in a back country accident around 3 p.m.
A group of five or six skiers were skiing out of bounds near Red Pine Lake in Summit County when they triggered an avalanche causing one man in the group to be swept away, said Detective Josh Wall with the Summit County Sheriff's Office.
The group was able to locate and remove the man before The Canyons Ski Patrol arrived on scene. Red Pine Lake is in the back country near the out-of-bounds area of the resort. All members of the group were wearing avalanche beacons, Wall said. On arrival the ski patrol provided first aid to the man, who was taken by AirMed to University Hospital with minor injuries.
The first storm of the season also ushered in scads of auto accidents over the weekend as drivers were reintroduced to slick roads and impaired visibility. Jeff Rhodes, public information officer for the Utah Highway Patrol said that between midnight Friday and noon on Sunday UHP troopers responded to 221 vehicle accidents in Salt Lake County and 69 in Utah County. All told, 39 of the total accidents resulted in injuries.
Rhodes said troopers were having to juggle an average of six to seven accidents during their shifts, limiting their ability to file paperwork at the scene, resulting in longer hours for most.
The National Weather Service in Salt Lake City said that over the weekend, Salt Lake City received between 4 and 10 inches across the valley. Utah County had an estimated snow cover of between 2 and 5 inches. Christine Kruse, a meteorologist with the weather service said this week will be a prolonged period of unsettled weather with chances for more snowfall.
Contributing: Arthur Raymond, Deseret News; Associated Press. E-mail: cnorlen@desnews.com