SALT LAKE CITY (AP) The stairway to heaven may actually be a bootpack.
Just a 15-minute hike in ski boots up through the snow from the Ninety-Nine 90 lift on The Canyons side of Park City Mountain Resort delivers skiers and snowboarders a view from the clouds, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. Cobalt blue peaks blanketed in brilliant white snow and shaded with crystalized conifers huddle around the ridge line. Below, wide open aprons of nearly untouched powder unfurl, ushering riders into their own semi-private Shangri-la.
But those who accept the invitation into the unmaintained backcountry terrain may be making a deal with the devil. A stark black-and-white sign at the resort exit point cautions as much. It is not inappropriately marked with a skull and crossbones and the words “YOU CAN DIE.”
Backcountry ski entry from resorts reconsidered after deaths
JULIE JAG, The Salt Lake Tribune
March 14, 2021
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1of3Park City Mountain Resort ski patrollers hike the boot-pack path toward the ski area exit gate on the ridge above the Ninety-Nine 90 lift, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021, in Park City, Utah. Access to the gate has been closed since two men died in January in avalanches in the adjacent unmaintained backcountry areas after leaving the resort through that point. (Rick Egan/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP)Rick Egan/APShow MoreShow Less
2of3The exit gate on the ridge above the Ninety-Nine 90 lift at Park City Mountain Resort in Utah, seen here Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021, has been closed since two men died in January in avalanches in the adjacent unmaintained backcountry areas after leaving the resort through that point. (Rick Egan/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP)Rick Egan/APShow MoreShow Less
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Courtesy of the Utah Avalanche Center
The pandemic drove people to head for the hills, the popular thinking goes, a COVID-fueled exodus as people sought outdoor recreation and a safer way to get out of the house.
But when that adventure turns out not to be so safe, it’s up to members of Summit County’s Search and Rescue team to respond.
“There are so, so many people out there,” said Kevan Todd, the team’s vice commander. He said parked cars can stretch 2 miles from a popular lot on the Mirror Lake Highway.
That would threaten to strain search-and-rescue resources even in the best of times, but last year certainly was not that. It featured a backcountry snowpack of rare instability and danger, resulting in multiple fatal avalanches, and the pandemic itself provided logistical challenges that prevented team members from training together or responding to calls the way they normally would.