Tragedy struck in the mountains outside of Salt Lake City as an avalanche claimed the lives of two skiers, with a third fortunate enough to be rescued. The avalanche occurred after a series of spring snowstorms, leaving the victims in its wake.
The Unified Police Department of Greater Salt Lake confirmed the fatalities and the successful rescue. Details surrounding the incident remain scarce, with no names of the deceased made public at this time.
Efforts to locate the missing skiers were initially hampered by treacherous conditions on the mountain, necessitating mitigation work to ensure the safety of rescue crews, as revealed by Rivera.
Rivera indicated that the rescued individual was the one who reached out for help. Authorities are currently interviewing him at the hospital in hopes of piecing together the events that led to the avalanche, the sheriff confirmed.
A group of skiers ventured into the backcountry on Thursday morning, according to reports.
Officials at the Utah Avalanche Center stated that approximately 2.5 feet of dense, wet snow had accumulated in the area over the past three days.
Given the challenging conditions, only highly experienced skiers would have attempted to navigate the "very serious terrain," experts noted.
