4 skiers are rescued from Utah avalanche

Summit County Search and Rescue crews say four people are lucky to be alive after being trapped in an avalanche Saturday.

Three men and a woman, all Utah residents ranging in ages from 44 to 59, were skiing in an out-of-bounds area called "No Name Bowl" located between the Canyons and Park City Ski Resort, said Summit County Sheriff's Sgt. Mike Dorman.

An approaching storm along the Wasatch Front Saturday night also caused numerous traffic problems mainly in Utah and Salt Lake counties.

Heavy snowfall and blowing wind made the avalanche danger Saturday afternoon extremely high, Dorman said.

At 12:44 p.m., the sheriff's office received a call from the group saying that they had been caught in an avalanche. The skiers, which were well equipped for the backcountry, were able to dig themselves out with shovels but were unable to continue skiing down the mountain because they lost most of the remainder of their equipment, he said.

Because the weather was still bad, search and rescue crews started rounding up snowmobiles to get to the group.

"It was zero visibility," Dorman said.

But searchers had a bit of luck about 4 p.m. when the weather briefly cleared.

"We put a helicopter in the air and flew them out," he said.

The group was checked by paramedics at the command post and all four were determined to be uninjured and were released before 5 p.m.

Dorman said searchers weren't able to determine how big the avalanche was because of the weather. But he said that based on the conditions Saturday, the outcome could have been much worse.

"They are very, very fortunate it worked out this way. They are lucky they weren't hurt or killed," Dorman said.

This is the fist time this winter the Summit County's Search and Rescue Team has been called out for an avalanche rescue. Last year, the group was exceptionally busy.

During the 2004-2005 ski season, eight people were killed in avalanches in Utah, making it one of the deadliest seasons since the state began keeping records in the 1950s.