It’s been a record-breaking year for Utah’s snowpack. Winter storms continue to roll through the state, dumping snow into the mountains and helping further the distance between this season and the previous best known record of 26 inches set in April of 1983. The conditions have been ideal for skiers, and Park City Mountain resort, which announced its closing date will be extended to April 23; and the seasonal snowfall on the 6-mile Park City Ridge has eclipsed 580 inches.
But this also carries a series of challenges for the Park City Mountain Snow Safety team, with Andy Van Houten, the resort’s ski patrol manager and snow safety director, saying it’s been the busiest winter during his 20 years at the resort. There have been around 60 control days so far this season, compared to 30 days in a typical year, according to Van Houten.
The day starts early for members of Park City Ski Patrol working avalanche mitigation at Park City Mountain resort.
On March 15, they met with ski patroller Adam Davis who gave a weather briefing to the group at Summit House. He relayed a forecast of substantial wind, temperatures in the 20s, and the possibility of thunderstorms, as patroller Tom Franco sat beside him. Avalanche danger was rated considerable. Park City Ski Patrol removes any hazards on the in-bound terrain in hopes of opening as much as possible. Patrollers usually run around 30 to 35 routes during a typical snow safety day.
Ski patrollers Alex Tierney, left, and Brett Jeppesen assembled explosives used for avalanche mitigation by adding a fuse cord to each canister.
Patrollers can affix multiple canisters together to create bigger shocks.
Then, teams of two head out to clear core terrain of any danger.
VanHouten and ski patroller Liana Phillips ready to throw a charge in blizzard-like conditions on the top of McConkey’s Bowl. As VanHouten prepares to launch the explosive into an area he hopes will trigger an avalanche, Phillips uses a stopwatch to determine when it will detonate.
A quick tug helps bring the device closer to the top layer of snow, producing better results.
The fuse cord determines the amount of time until the explosion goes off; usually in two minutes.
Even from a distance, it’s loud, causing VanHouten and Phillips to cover their ears. A single black-diamond run is considered prime avalanche terrain, but the slide reduction efforts, which rely on a collaboration between various employees, allow skiers to access it without worry.
Beyond the backcountry gates, there is no mitigation.
Wind plays a huge part in forecasting for the ski patrol because of how long the ridgeline is, VanHouten said. It can impact everything from whether the team can access a certain lift and how many explosives to bring as wind-drifted snow creates dense slabs. Canyons Village and the Park City-side of the resort are also impacted differently depending on the direction the storm is coming from.
Patrollers also build profile pits to see the various layers of snow. They’ve built more than 100 so far this season to help determine where the weak and strong layers exist and see how the snow has bonded. VanHouten expects another three and a half weeks of winter conditions. It’s likely a shift will occur in mid-April, which is around the time the snowpack starts to stabilize. It’s been a long but remarkable winter for the team, VanHouten said. He’s hoping to take advantage of some spring corn skiing when things settle down.
Patrollers constantly monitor inbound avalanche danger by taking laps around routes in a sequential process to ensure safety. Their top priority is to clear core terrain accessible by lifts such as Payday, Bonanza, Silverlode and Crescent.
Then, they move on to secondary areas like Jupiter and 9990 that can open later without as much of an impact on skiers, according to VanHouten. He said they may not even attempt to open some areas if the avalanche danger or the weather forecast is unfavorable.
The resort was open wall to wall in January and hasn’t experienced many difficulties in keeping terrain open this season. VanHouten said patience is key for skiers when openings are delayed because it’s the best thing for the terrain in the long run – especially during a season of intense storms.