Woman, 29, among 4 killed in Utah avalanche
By
Monica Danielle, AccuWeather Managing Editor
Updated Feb 10, 2021 2:23 PM EST
There have been 16 avalanche deaths across the United States in the past ten days. Experts worry more people are flocking to the backcountry due to COVID-19.
Authorities have identified four skiers killed in an avalanche in Utah over the weekend. Officials said two groups of skiers, one group of three and another group of five, were skiing in the Wilson Basin area near Millcreek Canyon, which is about 20 miles southeast of Salt Lake City when the avalanche struck.
"Four of those skiers were able to dig their way out," Salt Lake City Police Sgt. Melogy Cutler told CNN. "All four of the remaining are deceased."
The Utah Avalanche Center said in a tweet hours before the avalanche that the danger was high.
Cutler said all of the skiers were well prepared with the right equipment for conditions and were well-known in the skiiing community.
The four skiers who died have been identified as Sarah Moughamian, 29, Louis Holian, 26, Stephanie Hopkins, 26, and Thomas Louis Steinbrecher, 23.
Family members and friends of those who were killed in the avalanche have posted tributes to them on social media.
The four fatalities in Utah are the most recent in a string of 16 avalanche-related deaths across the United States this week, making this the deadliest time period for avalanche accidents in more than 100 years. In March of 1910, 96 people were killed in an avalanche in Wellington, Washington, near Stevens Pass. It remains the most deadly avalanche in U.S. history.
Simon Trautman, an expert with the National Avalanche Center, told BuzzFeed News the recent string of fatal accidents is due to "weak snowpack" across the country. He also suspects the ongoing coronavirus pandemic could be playing a role in the uptick in fatalities.
"The pandemic plays a huge role in the number of people recreating outside," he said. "Both the U.S. and Canada have seen backcountry use spike since last spring, and it’s possible that the behavioral ramifications of COVID are playing a role in this accident cluster."
Ethan Greene, director of the Colorado Avalanche Information center, told AccuWeather that backcountry recreating, by its very nature, is hard to quantify.
"I think that COVID is having a really big impact on everybody's lives, and the folks that are involved in winter recreation are definitely feeling the impact of COVID. How exactly that's playing out is hard for us to understand," Greene said in an interview. "Certainly here in Colorado and nationally, there’s been a lot of discussion around more people participating in these sports and people with less experience and less knowledge and that leading to more accidents. In Colorado this year, that is not what we are seeing. Most of these people are not new to the sport and most of them have a fair amount of experience."
Whether it's people trying to avoid crowds or reservation systems set up during the pandemic, the Utah Avalanche Center says backcountry skiing is definitely on the rise and has been since the first pandemic lockdowns began in March of last year.
As The Associated Press reports, Nikki Champion, with the Utah Avalanche Center, said in a forum in October organized by the trade Association Snowsports Industries America that "Backcountry users increased tenfold during April and COVID in general. We’ve had a lot of new users traveling with techniques that kind of suggested that they haven’t spent a lot of time in the backcountry."
Additionally, sales of equipment including bindings, boots and skis as well as avalanche safety equipment increased 46% in August and September of last year, compared to the same period in 2019, according to Snowsports Industries America and The NDP Group, a large market research company. The Associated Press also reports that sales of backcountry splitboards climbed 191% with snowshoe sales skyrocketing 221%.
“Sales for avalanche safety gear, splitboard and alpine touring have been on fire,” Steve Osborn from Evo Gear told SGB Media. So much so that many retailers report the increased demand led to empty shelves and supply issues.
Regardless of gear and expertise, Trautman warns the danger is very real.
"The accidents are geographically wide-ranging and are indicative of a widespread weak snowpack across the U.S.," he said. "Much of the western U.S. had very little early-season snow, and recent snowstorms are overloading this older, weaker snow and leading to elevated avalanche danger."
If you are headed into the backcountry, Greene says the most important thing skiers and snowboarders should do, aside from taking the proper gear, is to check a current avalanche forecast.
"The first thing you want to do is get the current avalanche forecast. You need to know what the conditions are like, so you can match what you're doing to the current conditions," Greene advised. "That's the most important thing. If you're going to have a picnic and you want to know whether to bring an umbrella, check the weather forecasts. It's really the same idea."
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo
News / Winter Weather
Woman, 29, among 4 killed in Utah avalanche
By Monica Danielle, AccuWeather Managing Editor
Updated Feb 10, 2021 2:23 PM EST
There have been 16 avalanche deaths across the United States in the past ten days. Experts worry more people are flocking to the backcountry due to COVID-19.
Authorities have identified four skiers killed in an avalanche in Utah over the weekend. Officials said two groups of skiers, one group of three and another group of five, were skiing in the Wilson Basin area near Millcreek Canyon, which is about 20 miles southeast of Salt Lake City when the avalanche struck.
"Four of those skiers were able to dig their way out," Salt Lake City Police Sgt. Melogy Cutler told CNN. "All four of the remaining are deceased."
The Utah Avalanche Center said in a tweet hours before the avalanche that the danger was high.
Cutler said all of the skiers were well prepared with the right equipment for conditions and were well-known in the skiiing community.
The four skiers who died have been identified as Sarah Moughamian, 29, Louis Holian, 26, Stephanie Hopkins, 26, and Thomas Louis Steinbrecher, 23.
Family members and friends of those who were killed in the avalanche have posted tributes to them on social media.
The four fatalities in Utah are the most recent in a string of 16 avalanche-related deaths across the United States this week, making this the deadliest time period for avalanche accidents in more than 100 years. In March of 1910, 96 people were killed in an avalanche in Wellington, Washington, near Stevens Pass. It remains the most deadly avalanche in U.S. history.
Simon Trautman, an expert with the National Avalanche Center, told BuzzFeed News the recent string of fatal accidents is due to "weak snowpack" across the country. He also suspects the ongoing coronavirus pandemic could be playing a role in the uptick in fatalities.
"The pandemic plays a huge role in the number of people recreating outside," he said. "Both the U.S. and Canada have seen backcountry use spike since last spring, and it’s possible that the behavioral ramifications of COVID are playing a role in this accident cluster."
Ethan Greene, director of the Colorado Avalanche Information center, told AccuWeather that backcountry recreating, by its very nature, is hard to quantify.
"I think that COVID is having a really big impact on everybody's lives, and the folks that are involved in winter recreation are definitely feeling the impact of COVID. How exactly that's playing out is hard for us to understand," Greene said in an interview. "Certainly here in Colorado and nationally, there’s been a lot of discussion around more people participating in these sports and people with less experience and less knowledge and that leading to more accidents. In Colorado this year, that is not what we are seeing. Most of these people are not new to the sport and most of them have a fair amount of experience."
Whether it's people trying to avoid crowds or reservation systems set up during the pandemic, the Utah Avalanche Center says backcountry skiing is definitely on the rise and has been since the first pandemic lockdowns began in March of last year.
As The Associated Press reports, Nikki Champion, with the Utah Avalanche Center, said in a forum in October organized by the trade Association Snowsports Industries America that "Backcountry users increased tenfold during April and COVID in general. We’ve had a lot of new users traveling with techniques that kind of suggested that they haven’t spent a lot of time in the backcountry."
Additionally, sales of equipment including bindings, boots and skis as well as avalanche safety equipment increased 46% in August and September of last year, compared to the same period in 2019, according to Snowsports Industries America and The NDP Group, a large market research company. The Associated Press also reports that sales of backcountry splitboards climbed 191% with snowshoe sales skyrocketing 221%.
“Sales for avalanche safety gear, splitboard and alpine touring have been on fire,” Steve Osborn from Evo Gear told SGB Media. So much so that many retailers report the increased demand led to empty shelves and supply issues.
Regardless of gear and expertise, Trautman warns the danger is very real.
"The accidents are geographically wide-ranging and are indicative of a widespread weak snowpack across the U.S.," he said. "Much of the western U.S. had very little early-season snow, and recent snowstorms are overloading this older, weaker snow and leading to elevated avalanche danger."
If you are headed into the backcountry, Greene says the most important thing skiers and snowboarders should do, aside from taking the proper gear, is to check a current avalanche forecast.
"The first thing you want to do is get the current avalanche forecast. You need to know what the conditions are like, so you can match what you're doing to the current conditions," Greene advised. "That's the most important thing. If you're going to have a picnic and you want to know whether to bring an umbrella, check the weather forecasts. It's really the same idea."
Related:
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo