Well, it was an inbounds avalanche, triggered inbounds. I was going to quote an article from today but i'll just copy and paste it... From the Salt Lake Tribune www.sltrib.com
Utah avalanche experts are calling Sunday's fatal slide at The Canyons Resort "a rarity" that has no parallel in recent Utah memory.
"We have got some of the best snow and avalanche people in the world here, whose record is just impeccable," said Craig Gordon, forecaster with the Utah Avalanche Center. "You probably stand a better chance of walking across the street and getting hit by a car that doesn't see you than an avalanche occurring in a ski resort."
The avalanche that killed Jesse R. Williams, 30, of Grand Junction, Colo., and critically injured an 11-year-old boy is the first fatal slide within the boundaries of a Utah resort in at least 20 years, Gordon said.
"It's such an incredibly rare event," he said.
The cause of the slide is still unknown, according to resort spokeswoman Elizabeth Dowd.
"Determining where or when an avalanche is going to slide is extremely hard to predict and a very difficult job," Dowd wrote in an e-mail. "The cause of an avalanche is equally as difficult to determine and this case is still under review."
Early Saturday, staff at The Canyons detonated 170 pounds of explosives on the area around Ninety-Nine 90 mountain. Skiers used the double-black diamond, "expert only" Red Pine Chutes all day Saturday and Sunday morning, Dowd said.
Williams and the child were skiing the Chutes at 11 a.m. on Sunday when the slide tore loose. It was 125 feet wide, up to 5 feet deep and ran for 500 feet down the mountain.
Williams was uncovered 10 minutes later and died at the scene, according to a press statement by Dowd.
The boy, who had been skiing with his father, spent about a half hour under the snow before he was found and taken to Primary Children's Medical Center. He was in critical but stable condition and had not regained consciousness Monday morning, Summit County sheriff's deputies said. Authorities would not identify the boy.
Jesse Williams was an experienced skier who was part of the Powder Mountain Ski Patrol outside of Grand Junction, said his brother, Justin Williams, of Herriman. Jesse Williams learned to ski when he was 5 years old, his brother said. Williams was skiing with his best friend when he saw the avalanche coming and yelled at his friend to get out of the way, Justin Williams said.
"He knew enough to warn his best friend the avalanche was coming," said Williams.
Jesse Williams was also an avid mountain biker and loved sailing, his brother said.
Justin Williams said his brother's death is particularly hard because the family lost their father in April.
Williams, his wife, Gina, and 2-year-old daughter Keely were visiting family in Park City for the holidays, said his father-in-law, Jim Coe, of Park City.
"He was a good husband and a great father," said Coe.
Williams, who worked as an aircraft mechanic, had lived with his family in Grand Junction for five years.
Funeral arrangements are set at Larkin Mortuary, 260 East South Temple, in Salt Lake City, at noon on Saturday. A memorial fund is being established at Zions Bank.
Williams' death is the second at The Canyons Resort this month. Jason Coles, 36, of Park City, died Dec. 17 after he hit a tree while skiing at the resort. Dowd said the avalanche likely will not deter holiday skiers, many of whom planned their vacations long ago.
"Utah is legendary for having some of the greatest avalanche rescue units and snow safety and ski patrol units in the world; many of them work for us at The Canyons," she said.
ealberty@sltrib.com
