"The Zilvitis family is ecstatic to report that Max has been recovering steadily since he awoke Monday afternoon. We are forever grateful to the volunteers and ski patrol who helped recover Max from the avalanche Sunday morning," the family said. "Max vividly remembers his experience on Sunday. He is doing incredibly well, but we would like him to get stronger before discussing that day further."

Investigating the avalanche itself, the Utah Avalanche Center's report said it occurred on a north-northeast facing slope at 9,600-feet. It was about 100-feet wide, 600-feet long and up to 5 feet deep in places.

"The avalanche entrained a lot of snow from the track and sidewalls, resulting in a large amount of debris," the report said. "The avalanche failed on a weak layer of 2-to-3 mm facets, sandwiched between deteriorating ice crusts. The slam was about 100 cm thick, going from fist hardness near the surface to 1 finger hardness just above the upper crust."

The Utah Avalanche Center has issued advisories today, warning of considerably dangerous conditions in the mountains around Logan, Ogden, Salt Lake City, Provo, Manti and the western Uintas. A moderate risk has been assigned to mountains near Moab.

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com; preavy@desnews.com