Big Cottonwood Canyon, home to Solitude and Brighton ski resorts, was open intermittently for vehicles with four-wheel-drive or chains; Little Cottonwood Canyon was closed all day because of avalanche danger, keeping many skiers away from Alta and Snowbird.

"Here we have more than 35 inches and no one's skied it," said Alta information coordinator Mark Jette. "Something like epic ski conditions apply here."

Another 14-18 inches were expected at Alta overnight, making for a definitely epic day today for those skiers who can make it up the canyon.

Meanwhile, Salt Lake City International Airport experienced several flight cancellations and delays because of the storm, operations superintendent Alvin Stuart said. Crews operating 24 snowplows, four snowblowers and four sanding vehicles worked continuously on the airport's three runways to keep at least one open at all times.

"People are arriving and departing, slowly but surely," Stuart said. "Aircraft are landing and taking off. But obviously it's not normal operation."

After a few hours of tardy employees trying to make their way to work through clogged streets, as well as stores bereft of post-Yule shoppers on what is traditionally one of the busiest days of the year, Salt Lake's Gateway shopping center threw up its hands and closed up shop early on Friday. Several other businesses and government offices along the Wasatch Front did the same, including the State Health Department, Midvale City and Salt Lake County.

Utah residents who drove to Wendover, Nev., to gamble did not escape the storm's effects, as the border town lost its power.

"Our casino has backup generators, but the hotel doesn't have power," said Rainbow Hotel & Casino manager Jenny Peebles. "My hands are cold. It is about 55 degrees in my office."

Emergency actions

Downtown Salt Lake City had a double whammy. There was not much room to store plowed snow as it piled up in the city. Posselli said his crews, using dump trucks, would haul snow from the downtown area to a snow dump on Indiana Avenue after the storm abated — the first time in three years that has had to be done.

Salt Lake County Mayor Nancy Workman activated the county's Emergency Operation Center on a limited basis just before 1 p.m.

"It means we're on the forefront and not playing catchup," said Salt Lake County Fire Capt. Jay Ziolkowski.

Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson took similar action early Friday afternoon, announcing that the city had set up emergency shelters for folks stuck without power overnight. Those shelters were at the Sorensen Multi-cultural Center and East and West high schools.

"If the power's going to be out all night, we should be taking action now," Anderson said. The mayor also encouraged those without power to seek out neighbors or friends they could stay with.

"Let people know what to expect and see if there are people who need shelter," he said.

Utah Power issued a statement Friday warning people to stay away from downed power lines and not to attempt removing tree branches from power lines on their own.

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Contributing: Lynn Arave, Larry Weist and Elaine Jarvik

E-MAIL: aedwards@desnews.com;

preavy@desnews.com