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No Utah Avalanche Fatalities This Season

Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest Utah Avalanche Forecast Center
No one died in a Utah avalanche this winter, although there were some near misses. The last time there was a fatality-free avalanche year in Utah was during the 1990-91 season.

Utah sees an average of four avalanche deaths a year.

But this winter’s tally bucked the odds. It was the state’s first snow season in 26 years that no one died in an avalanche.

Craig Gordon, a forecaster with the Forest Service’s Utah Avalanche Center, calls the fatality-free year “an amazing accomplishment” for the center and the backcountry community.

“Particularly when you look at the numbers in terms of backcountry growth,” he says. “I mean, the backcountry’s getting loved to death.”

Gordon says technology is making a difference. It’s easier and faster than it used to be to get out the word to skiers, boarders and snowmobilers about staying safe and avoiding hazards like avalanche-prone slopes.

“Now with apps, the Internet, with Instagram and Twitter feeds, we’ve got a well-connected, dialed in backcountry community,” he says.

The Wasatch Mountains has had a big snow year. Ski Utah says all four of the Cottonwood Canyons resorts received more than their usual 500 inches this year.

Gordon says the timing of storms also helped keep the backcountry relatively snowpack stable – especially after late January. But there’s no way to know how next season will play out.

“Every winter is different,” he says, “and we may never see a deep, stable snowpack like this for another couple of decades.”

The Utah Avalanche Center ended its daily forecasts on Sunday. Its web page will now post weekly advisories, along with updates after significant storms.

And Gordon points out that backcountry users have plenty of time until next season to brush up on their avalanche-safety skills.

https://vimeo.com/144545554">Know Before You Go from https://vimeo.com/user8844425">Trent Meisenheimer on Vimeo.

Judy Fahys has reported in Utah for two decades, covering politics, government and business before taking on environmental issues. She loves covering Utah, where petroleum-pipeline spills, the nation’s radioactive legacy and other types of pollution provide endless fodder for stories. Previously, she worked for the Salt Lake Tribune in Utah, and reported on the nation’s capital for States News Service and the Scripps League newspaper chain. She is a longtime member of the Society of Environmental Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors. She also spent an academic year as a research fellow in the Knight Science Journalism program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In her spare time, she enjoys being out in the environment, especially hiking, gardening and watercolor painting.
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