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Show Wed/Thurs/Fri, December 7-9, 2005 The Park Record A-2 Slide season is underway U.S. Forest Service: Utah Avalanche Center is busiest forecast facility in North America By PATRICK PARKINSON Of the Record staff Avalanche forecasters don't expect snow that fell Tuesday in Summit County to contribute drastically to slide danger in the area. "I don't think it's going to change things too much because it's pretty Hght-density snow," said Bruce Tremper, director of the U.S. Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center. "The snow we had a few days ago, it was fast and furious and it was dense, heavy snow ... it's had a few days to adjust to its load." Four Salt Lake County residents with decades of backcountry experience, who chose to ski too steep of a slope in the No Name Bowl between Park City Mountain Resort and The Canyons, triggered a large avalanche Saturday in western Summit County, Tremper said. "You have to be very selective about where you go." he said, adding that moderate avalanche danger is expected for the rest of the week. "Snow is just like people, it doesn't like rapid changes. If we get two feet of snow and the wind blows, then we'll be back to where we started." He reminds skiers and snowboarders that northeast facing slopes steeper than 30 degrees should be avoided during times of elevated avalanche risk, he added. "[No Name Bowl] is notoriously avalanche prone because of all those factors," Tremper said, adding that the northeast-facing hill, with its thin snow layers and heavy wind drifts, has a 38-degree slope. "Which is the bull's-eye for slope steepness," Clear skies contribute to unstable, faceted snow, and several days of sunshine had primed No Name Bowl for a big avalanche, he said. "A weak layer was created," Tremper said. "Anytime you have a clear sky, that snow surface is getting very weak." He compared the unstable surface snow to potato chips - "that have no weight, they are not bonded to each other." "A slab was formed because this new snow and wind came in," Tremper said. "Mechanically, it's just like putting a brick down on a pile of potato chips and then tipping it up on edge." Summit County Sheriff Dave Edmunds recommends people contact the Utah Avalanche Center before any trip into the backcountry. "It's frightening," Edmunds said. "If you feel like you don't have the expertise to traverse into the backcountry, then just don't." Summit County made international headlines last January when Sandpoint, Idaho resident Shane Maixner, 27, died in an avalanche in the popular Dutch's Draw area near The Canyons. Maixner reportedly entered the backcountry with friends through a gate near the Ninety-nine 90 lift at The Canyons on Jan. 14 around 12:30 p.m. "If you ski outside the resort boundaries, you better know what you're doing, it's just that simple," Edmunds said. "We do not want families to be destroyed by people who just didn't have to die." Avalanche danger was considerable on Saturday when the group of skiers survived the slide in western Summit County. Salt Lake County resident Roger Arhart triggered Saturday's ava- lanche after traveling with three friends into Summit County from a ridge near Big Cottonwood Canyon. They claim they had not been skiing at a resort but were issued misdemeanor trespassing citations by the Summit County Sheriff's Office. Tremper isn't sure whether the avalanche occurred on private or public land but said the skiers shouldn't be charged for trespassing in a National Forest. The slide reportedly occurred on the groups 10th run through the area. "You're in an area where avalanche control is not conducted and where avalanches are a real danger not only the first run but perhaps even the 10th run," Edmunds said. "We tell the people that don't understand backcountry' skiing or snowboarding, we tell them, 'go to the resorts.'" Last season was Utah's deadliest on record for avalanche deaths and 85 percent of those killed in slides in the state did not consult the avalanche forecast center before their trips. Tremper said. "We're trying to reach out to those 85 percent," he added. Utah's avalanche center is the busiest in North America, but unlike Europe, where most deaths occur when danger is considerable, most people die in slides in Utah when danger is high, Tremper said, adding, "when most people know to stay away." The skiers who survived Saturday's slide were very fortunate, the sheriff said. "There is a lot of personal responsibility and a lot of personal accountability when it comes to recreating in the backcountry," Edmunds added. "We do not want more people dying." Visit www.avalanche.org for updated warnings for the Wasatch and Uinta mountains. Four skiers escape avalanche • Continued from A-1 through some of Summit County's most pristine backcountry between Park City Mountain Resort and The Canyons. "He just hit the unlucky button," Steiner said. "The lure of powder, the peer pressure, the fact that it's been skied ... all of that factored into not a good decision." However, the group followed rules of the backcountry by skiing each run individually and waiting off to the side. "Everyone in the backcountry follows the protocol of skiing off to the side where they think they're out of P haffnVway," Steiner said. "We ail underestimate how big '• something can go if it goes and how often when we think we're out of harm's way we are still in harm's way." Avalanche danger was considerable in western ! Summit County Saturday afternoon. "Slides can occur even after you've been down a run once or twice," Edmunds said. "You're not necessarily out of danger when you're in the backcountry just because you've been down a chute or you've been in a bowl." Shortly after he was flown to safety Saturday around 4:30 p.m., Manos said, "I'm grateful to be alive." The group reported the slide to dispatch around 12:45 p.m. Sheriff's Office searchers went into the area near South Monitor Peak on snowmobiles after setting up a mobile command at St. Mary's Catholic Church. But snow, wind and low visibility complicated rescue efforts until weather improved and the skiers were spotted from a helicopter. Summit County sheriff's Sgl. Mike Dorman said. "They're very lucky. They're very, very lucky," he added. After losing five skis and six poles in the slide, the group made a fire and stayed put until they were found. Jane Arhart said, adding that no one was injured in the avalanche. "We usually play it conservatively. We were stupid today," she said. The 600-foot-wide avalanche was triggered at roughly 9,800 feet and ran nearly the entire width of the bowl. According to the Utah Avalanche Center, the slide was 1,200 feet long "This is the first major avalanche we've witnessed, let alone been stuck in," Steiner said, adding that members of the group have decades of experience traveling in the backcountry. He believes they were ticketed by the Sheriffs Office because deputies were under the impression they had left the boundaries of a ski resort. "We did not leave a ski area," Steiner said. "The citation was the result of the assumption that we either came up from the church, through White Pine Canyon, that's posted as 'private' by The Colony, or that we broke a skiarea line." The skiers intend to contest the tickets, he said, adding, "I did not break any law." He claims they skied over a ridge from Big Cottonwood Canyon near USA Bowl, to access the No Name area. "We were prepared, we were also lucky." Steiner said, adding that the group had probes and shovels to perform beacon searches if necessary. Docs see merits of local hospital • Continued from A-1 entire county, she believes there will eventually be enough demand to warrant the size of the proposed hospital. "Some people arc concerned about the size when they look at the drawings [of the IHC hospital], but I think Summit County is definitely growing and there's definitely going to be a need within the time frame they're planning," she said. "It really wouldn't be replacing anything I do, it would be to provide the services that patients currently have to go to Salt Lake for." Iigpty performs well for Wbrld Cup • Continued from A-1 "I've gained a lot of in my skiing," he told reporters. "Last year, I got 5th here and it was a pretty good result for me and I was pretty pleased with it. And then all last year I consistently scored World Cup points in slalom and I gained confidence and got into the first 30 group, which helped a lot. "It's a big advantage for me starting 27th instead of the late 30s and 40s." Saturday's GS was an inspiration, Ligety said. And when Miller sputtered in the first run, "I kinda felt I was able to carry it onto another podium." No one was betting it would be his last top-3 finish. As Head Coach Phil McNichol always says about Ligety, "He's full throttle all the time." Tracking snow gear GRAYSON WEST/PARK RECORD Park City Reserve Officer Mark Nosack, center, and Sergeant Bill Morris, right, assist Parkitc Bill Dekoff with registering his skis Saturday during the free ski and snowboard registration in the plaza at Park City Mountain Resort. The police will continue to register skis and snowboards through the end of the month on a trial basis. If the program is successful, they will continue. Individuals can also register at the police station on Marsac Avenue Wednesday from 4-9 p.m. or at the office located on 514 Main Street on Friday and Saturday. City considers Empire Pass hotel • Continued from A-1 space, and providing traffic mitigations to offset the projected impact on Marsac Avenue and Deer Valley Drive. Doug Clyde, a private-sector planner working for the Empire Pass development, estimates that the hotel will increase traffic by 2.8 percent on Marsac Avenue and one percent on Deer Valley Drive. At the work session, Clyde emphasized that Talisker is committed to an aggressive transportation plan and would still pay the city $2 million, as stipulated in the original development agreement. The approved 1999 development agreement for Empire Pass specified only 147 acres could be developed, with the remainder of the land left to passive and recreational open space, according to Park City planner Brooks Robinson. The developers are proposing the additional units come from PCMR, land that is largely unincorporated into the city. "There is enough density available [at PCMR] to transfer to the hotel area [at Empire Pass], and the city is willing to look at it,'s Robinson told The Park Record. Talisker has been talking to Montage for two years, according to Robinson, and would like to begin construction on the hotel by late next spring. "As far as [the Montage developers] are concerned, I think they've spent a lot of money and done a lot of drawing. If they wanted to start construction next spring, they need to be far along...I think they're excited about the site and I think it's probably a realistic [starting date], but I'm just surmising based on how much work they've done." he explained. Deer Valley Resort President Bob Wheaton, Montage Chief Executive Officer and founder Alan Fuerstman, and Karen Wikstrom, an economic consultant, accompanied Scully to the November meeting. Wikstrom presented a report assessing the economic benefits to the city once the Montage was stabilized in 2012. She calculates secondary tax revenue from sales outside of the resort at 5275,421. and $580,000 in annual revenues to the Park City School District. City Councilwoman Candy Erickson. however, noted that the economic benefits would be much the same if the project featured condos and not a hotel. Essentially, Wikstrom's numbers compared the benefit of building the Montage to building nothing at all, Erickson said. Erickson questioned the lack of employee housing units on site and the traffic study, which showed that the hotel would add 238 additional cars to Marsac Avenue, she said. "The type of clients you're dealing with [at Montage] don't want to share a van," she explained. "'Without some incredible benefit to the city, I don't feel comfortable up-zoning this project. I would love to see a Montage, but I don't think the units will come from Park City [Mountain Resort.]' Mayor Dana Williams, however, countered that Talisker had proven that it could "walk the walk." and that he had seen the Montage in Southern California, and was impressed by the quality of the resort. A hotel like Montage, he said, might just "complete the moat" at Empire Pass. Robinson said that the amendment to the development agreement would continue to be discussed at public meetings in the future. City staff has not taken a position on the project, and the city plans to form a task force to assess additional details of the proposed Montage Hotel, Robinson says. Closure irks commuters on 1-80 Snow that fell on and off throughout the day Tuesday wreaked havoc on motorists' morning and afternoon commutes as a portion of westbound Interstate 80 near Parleys Summit closed so crews could clear snow-packed roads. "I know it's just snowing like hell," Summit County Public Works Superintendent Mark Offrct said Tuesday afternoon. "Its not backing off much over there." After returning to his office in Hoytsville from Kimball Junction, Offret said "snow-packed and scary" highways in western Summit County caused many drivers to slide of the road. "There are slide-offs. and people bumping and crashing down Silver Creek Canyon and over on [U.S. 40] and all up and down 1-80," Offret said. 'There arc several cars off in the ditch and people just aren't slowing down ... it's a bad one." Westbound Interstate 80 closed near Jeremy Ranch for more than an hour around 10:15 a.m. after semi-trucks began to spin out on the slick road, Utah Department of Transportation maintenance supervisor Todd Richins said, adding that truckers were required to chain their tires before attempting to pass over the summit. "[1-80] was closed this morning for snow removal," UDOT spokesman Brent Wilhite said. Slow traffic on both sides of the interstate impeded snow removal as snowplow operators slowed to avoid other vehicles, he added. "It's not very common, except when there are high levels of traffic," Wilhite said about the closure. "If the snowplows can't drive at a fast enough speed to throw the snow far from the roadway, then, often times the snow just goes right to the shoulders ... and blows right back on the road." He wasn't sure whether additional road closures were expected Tuesday evening in Summit County. Meanwhile, several weeks ago UDOT began repairing potholes in Parleys Canyon on both sides of Interstate SO near Salt Lake City. "The weather turned cold on us too soon and we weren't able to finish all three lanes," said Wilhite, who added that crews are still working on the far right lanes on each side of the interstate. "We're in a bit of a bind here because we can't pave asphalt because of the cold weather and the snow." - Patrick Parkinson Eat, Drink & Be Generous! February 2-5, 2006 P A R K C I T Y Culinary, Wine & Ski CLASSIC All proceeds will benefit the: Highlights of the 2006 Event Community Night Kick-Off Soiree • Vintner Dinners Masquerade Ball id more... ana F O U N D A T I O N The Underdog Foundations mission to fund community youth programs in the areas of education, arts, advocacy and athletics. Visit our website for a list of our preselected 2006 beneficiaries. www.theunderdogfoundation.org • www.parkcitywineclassic.com |