Norwegian man killed in avalanche

Salt Lake County Sheriff's deputies have recovered the body of a 37-year-old Norwegian man who was caught up in an avalanche in Big Cottonwood Canyon.

The body of Vegard Lund, of Stavanger, Norway, was found at about 10:15 a.m. Thursday morning, deputies said.

"They found it in the slide," said Salt Lake County Sheriff's Lt. Paul Jaroscak.

Salt Lake County Sheriff's deputies said a series of tracks over a 10,000-foot ridge line ended where an avalanche begins. An emergency beacon led them to Lund's body.

Deputies said the 37-year-old man was backcountry skiing with some friends on Wednesday. They took one path back to their car while he took another. When he didn't return, his friends called police.

Search teams responded at about 8 p.m. Wednesday but were unsuccessful in locating the man. Because of the lateness of the day and the dangerous avalanche conditions, searchers waited to go forward.

This morning, helicopters had been assisting in locating the man and searchers had to ascend the area on foot.

"This is about 10,000-foot mark. It's just such a high danger," Jaroscak said.

The Utah Avalanche Center has listed the avalanche danger in the mountains of northern and central Utah as high today, urging people to avoid the backcountry. The latest conditions can be found online at www.utahavalanchecenter.com.

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