- A snowmobiler survived a large avalanche in southeast Utah's La Sal Mountains.
- The avalanche, triggered at 11,800 feet, almost completely buried the rider.
- Avalanche danger remains considerable near Moab; caution urged for mountain recreation.
MOAB — A snowmobiler was lucky to avoid serious injury after being partially buried by a large avalanche in southeastern Utah, prompting officials to highlight the risks from the state's latest wave of snow.
The incident occurred on the east face of Laurel Peak in Dark Canyon of the La Sal Mountains southeast of Moab on Friday evening, according to the Utah Avalanche Center. Four people were snowmobiling in the area when one rider unintentionally triggered a slide at approximately 11,800 feet of elevation, sending a 700-foot-wide wall of snow tumbling 1,250 feet toward them.
The snowmobiler, a man whose name and age were not released, was caught in the avalanche and carried about 100 feet, which "almost completely buried" him, according to the report. Three others, who were waiting farther down the mountain, rushed in and found him with his hands and head sticking out of the snow, before they dug him out of the snowpile.
All four riders brought the proper rescue gear for an avalanche, but the partially buried rider was unable to reach his airbag, it added.
"This was a really lucky scenario, and this could have gone really bad for them," said Dave Garcia, a forecaster and Moab community coordinator for the Utah Avalanche Center, in a video the agency uploaded over the weekend.
Garcia and other forecasters inspected the site on Saturday, where they found parts of the debris pile with snow 7 to 8 feet deep, more than double the amount of snow recorded in the area. They determined that the slide originated in weakened snow beneath the snowfall that fell after rain on Christmas.
Over a foot of dense, water-heavy snow fell in the area over the past few weeks, while "moderate to strong winds blew" snow, adding to avalanche conditions at the time of the slide, their report noted.
Friday's avalanche occurred near the same area where a snowmobiler was killed in a larger slide in 2019.
Several natural and human-caused slides have been reported over the past few days after the latest wave of moisture. Avalanche danger in the area remains "considerable" in the mountains near Moab at the start of this week, while it's as "moderate" across other mountains in the state, per the Utah Avalanche Center.
Anyone recreating in the mountains is urged to avoid terrain with slopes steeper than 30 degrees. The state dedicated a webpage to other safety tips.
"This problem is going to be with us for a little bit longer," Garcia said. "It's going to get harder and more stubborn to trigger, but it's going to stick around. These are the kind of slopes that you're going to want to avoid."
