None injured in natural avalanche near Snowbird beginner area

A natural avalanche slid near Snowbird Resort on April 6, 2023. Photo: Utah Avalanche Center.

SALT LAKE CITY — A naturally-occurring avalanche on the south facing side of Mount Superior ran across SR 210 yesterday and into the western edge of Snowbird’s Chickadee trail.

Classified as an area for beginners, the Chickadee lift and trail were one of only a few lifts open at Snowbird at the time of the avalanche.

“We are taking every measure possible to confirm that no guests or employees were impacted, including the use of Avalanche Rescue Dogs, RECCO technology and a probe line,” said a tweet from Snowbird.

As of 3:24 p.m. yesterday, Snowbird completed its search and found that no resort guests or employees were caught in the avalanche.

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The resort is open today for skiing, and the Aerial Tram, Gadzoom, Little Cloud, and Wilbere lifts are operating.

SR 210 is closed once again after opening briefly this morning from 5-9 a.m. for downhill travel only.

Crews performing avalanche mitigation have not estimated when the road will open again, however, according to the Utah Department of Transportation Avalanche team, the organization is monitoring road conditions and will re-evaluate opening the road this afternoon or evening.