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Show No Injuries Reported After Major Avalanche A "major avalanche" roared down Jupiter Bowl Monday at 1 p.m. taking nearly half the area's snowpack to the bottom of the steep hill. Although the run was open for skiing, no one was on the slopes at the time of the slide and no injuries were reported. Mike Spurlock, snow safety director for the Park city Resort, said the slide was rated as a "number three-climax". Avalanches are rated on a scale from one to five depending on size and magnitude. Spurlock said nearly half Jupiter Bowl slid in the avalance which was between three and four feet deep and 75 yards wide. The slide extended down the mountain for 110 yards. Ski patrolmen immediately closed the Jupiter area for the remainder of the day while a two-hour search for possible victims ensued. Spurlock said 13 members of the park City Ski Patrol were involved in the search, which included two hours of "course probing", two hours of a "peep search", and a one hour search by Heyduke, the area's avalanche safety dog. "We were fortunate no one was on the hill when it slid", Spurlock said. After a snow analysis the following day, Spurlock determirled it was safe to reopen the area. Only the east side of Jupiter is now open with the west side remaiing closed, most likely for the rest of the season. Spurlock added further that they are closing all runs with a northeast exposure at noon. He said that warm afternoon temperatures can lead to more unstable snow conditions. The snow safety director said he considered Monday's slide "unusual" because of a "good snow base" present on Jupiter Bowl. He said he thought recent warm weather coupled with sparse snow pack created the unstable conditions. Spurlock warns all skiers to exercise caution when skiing late in teh season and ' to call the Avalanche forecast Center before venturing into the back country. |