A 51-year-old man from Summit County was found dead this past Saturday after a two-day search in the backcountry skiing area around Hoyt Peak. The Summit County Sheriff’s Office received a report of the missing skier on Friday evening, who had not returned as expected. According to The Salt Lake Tribune, search operations commenced but had to be suspended late that night due to dangerous conditions in the area.
Search efforts resumed early Saturday morning, and the skier was discovered deceased before 11 a.m. It was confirmed by authorities that the individual succumbed to an avalanche. Teams had to carefully work to even access the area. "Due to extremely hazardous conditions, additional resources were requested to assist with avalanche mitigation, allowing searchers to operate safely and effectively," the Summit County Sheriff's Office stated, as reported by ABC4.
Following the initial response, rescuers had identified an area impacted by a recent avalanche, which contributed to the operation's complexity. As obtained by KUTV, it was initially unclear whether the overdue skier had been involved in the avalanche, prompting the pause in search efforts on Friday night. However, the discovery on Saturday confirmed the skier's involvement in the avalanche.
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