SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Multiple avalanches closed Little Cottonwood Canyon southeast of Salt Lake City on Friday, cutting access to Alta and Snowbird ski resorts where vacationers were already being told to stay inside because of heavy snow.
Three naturally occurring slides buried the road near the entrance to Snowbird in 8 to 9 feet of snow, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. The road was closed at the time as the Utah Department of Transportation worked to mitigate the avalanche danger.
The Deseret News reported the resorts haven’t opened since Wednesday, and the canyon has been closed most of the past two days.
“The conditions are about as extreme as we’ve seen, especially this year,” UDOT spokesman John Gleason told the newspaper. “There are areas up there where avalanches are covering the road that haven’t seen avalanches in almost 15 years.”
Since Thursday, the town of Alta has been “interlodged,” a cabin fever-inducing ordinance that requires all employees and guests to stay inside while transportation crews conduct avalanche mitigation.
Alta and Snowbird tweeted Friday that they did not plan to open for the day.
In Big Cottonwood Canyon, only vehicles with chains or four-wheel drive were being allowed through.
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