Snowmobiler dies in avalanche near Strawberry

A snowmobiler was killed Monday when an avalanche buried him for more than an hour in Wasatch County.

William Dale Christensen, 40, was riding with a group of friends about 3 p.m. Monday on the popular Co-Op Trail in Strawberry Valley, said Wasatch County Sheriff's Lt. Jeff Winterton.

An avalanche crashed down the mountain and Christensen's friends realized he was missing, Winterton said. Within minutes, Wasatch County Search and Rescue teams had arrived. Christensen had not been wearing an active beacon, Winterton said.

More than an hour later, they found Christensen's body and immediately began performing CPR. Christensen was the taken by medical helicopter to Utah Valley Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

The Utah Department of Natural Resources is investigating Christensen's death, Winterton said. Christensen and his friends were on the property legally.

"Avalanche danger is high and people need to be aware of it, or we'll be busy," Winterton said.

Christensen's death was the third avalanche fatality in Utah in December.

Thousands of people on skis, snowshoes or snowmobiles are expected to hit the Utah backcountry today, despite the danger of avalanches.

"I want to caution people to play it conservative, especially in the western Uinta Mountains," said Bruce Tremper, director of the Utah Avalanche Center.

Tremper rated the more accessible Wasatch Range only slightly less dangerous after 2 feet of fresh snow. For the western Uintas, about 35 miles east of Salt Lake City, he issued a special warning — just one notch below "extreme."

The Uinta snowpack suffers from a layer of loose, sugary snow that fell in October and was glazed by a November dry spell. Several feet of new snow is bearing down on top of that.

"It's like putting a brick over a pile of potato chips," Tremper said. "It just won't support much weight."

Backcountry travelers were urged to avoid all open slopes in the Uintas, especially terrain facing the northeast above 9,500 feet.

That was the setting when Dave Balls, a 53-year-old snowmobiler from Oakley, died on Christmas in a 4-foot-deep, 1,000-foot-wide avalanche off the summit of 11,000-foot Windy Peak.

More unusual was the death of a 30-year-old Colorado skier during an avalanche at The Canyons resort in Park City on Dec. 23. Jesse Williams died of head trauma after hitting a tree.