An avalanche this week buried a snowmobiler in northern Utah in what forecasters called the first accident of the season.

Fortunately, the man survived.

A snowmobiler was “side-hilling” in a bowl beneath a cliff in Steep Hollow in the Franklin Basin area of Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest on Christmas Eve when he triggered a snow slide, according to a Utah Avalanche Center report. He watched as the avalanche swept up his brother who was standing next to his snowmobile below the slope. The snow carried him about 150 yards and fully buried him.

The man’s brother used a transreceiver to get close enough to see a couple of fingers of a gloved hand sticking out of the snow, the report said.

After digging him out, the two were able to make it out of the backcountry together on one snowmobile. The buried man suffered minor injuries.

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'Never let your guard down': Utah avalanche experts offer safety advice

Avalanche danger is high

With heavy snowfall and strong winds — possibly up to 60 mph on some peaks — expected to continue for the next several days, Utah Avalanche Center forecasters expect the avalanche danger to rise to high on many slopes across northern and central Utah and southeast Idaho.

“Because the new snow will overload weak, pre-existing faceted snow, avalanches may be triggered from hundreds of feet away, making for particularly tricky and dangerous conditions,” according to the center.

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The Utah Avalanche Center urges everyone heading into the mountains to stay informed with the latest avalanche forecast at utahavalanchecenter.org. In a video summary of the current conditions filmed at about 9,500 feet elevation in Big Cottonwood Canyon, forecaster Trent Meisenheimer notes Utah has hardly had any snow this season, but the base is soft and sugary.

“We have a very dangerous snowpack setup,” he said. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news here, but honestly, we’re doomed in Utah for a very dangerous winter. ... This is not the year to be riding in avalanche terrain.”

Meisenheimer said snowmobilers, sledders, snowshoers, skiers or snowboarders shouldn’t be on any terrain or slope that’s steeper than 30 degrees.

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Lance Adams, left, Quinn Taylor and Jan Pell return to the cars after skiing the foothills of Salt Lake City on Wednesday, April 5, 2023. With both Big and Little Cottonwood canyons being closed for avalanche mitigation skiers took to the foothills. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News

Backcountry safety tips

Utah Avalanche Center offers the following safety tips:

  • As avalanche danger increases, staying out of backcountry avalanche terrain is the safest option. Avoid being on, under or near slopes steeper than about 30 degrees.
  • Check everyone in your group for operational avalanche rescue gear and be sure everyone knows how to use it.
  • Skiers and riders leaving resort boundaries should know they may enter avalanche-prone terrain.
  • If you go into the backcountry, don’t go alone. If you must go into avalanche terrain, cross steep slopes one person at a time while your companions watch from a safer location.
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