Snowbird- Early Season

It was dumping snow at Snowbird Ski Resort on Thursday morning.

From Tuesday through Thursday Snowbird received 14 inches of snow from the first major storm of the season.

“People are thrilled to have winter approaching,” said Bob Bonar, Snowbird’s general manager. “This past winter was a marginal snow year. Seeing the snow this early gets everyone in the skiing and snowboarding frame of mind.”

According to the Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort website, the resort received 383 inches of snow in the 2011-2012 season, making it the lowest snow total in Snowbird’s 41-year history.

“It’s great to see it white,” said John Collins, Snowbird’s director of mountain activities and mountain operations risk manager. “People are up here hiking around enjoying the new snow, it seems like everyone is excited for winter.”

Although the recent storm has excited many winter enthusiasts, Snowbird is not scheduled to open to the public until Nov. 17.

“This time of year people need to be very careful,” said Peter Schory, winter operations director. “Snowbird is closed, there is no avalanche control being done and the snowpack is extremely thin.”

While Snowbird hasn’t opened yet, that doesn’t stop people from getting on touring skis and hiking up the ski slopes for a few fresh turns.

On Nov. 13, 2011, Snowbird was not yet open for the winter season and had similar early-season conditions it has today.

On that day, professional skier Matthew Jamie Pierre was killed in a shallow snow avalanche inside the ski area boundary.

“That was terrible,” Collins said. “Without ski patrol on scene and with such low snow currently on the mountain, people accessing the terrain need to use extreme caution.”

The consensus of avalanche experts in Utah is to treat any travel within the ski area boundary as a backcountry adventure.

“Are you prepared? That is what you need to ask yourself every time you step on the mountain especially times like this when areas aren’t open yet,” said Craig Gordon, an avalanche forecaster for Utah Avalanche Center.

The Utah Avalanche Center offers a website to inform the public of snow conditions and snowpack stability. The website will be running full-time by the first week in November. Until then, special reports will be offered as storms approach or conditions change.

“As conditions change, the snow will change,” Gordon said. “Even familiar areas must be treated as backcountry terrain. Don’t go into the mountains, even to closed ski areas without the proper avalanche gear and knowing how to use it. Whatever you do, do not go into the mountains without a avalanche transceiver.”

Though avalanches are a risk at anytime during the winter, the snowpack will increase as winter progresses.

“People in the mountains need to be conservative this early,” Bonar said. “That 14 inches barely covered up a lot of stuff that would ruin a ski season. If you take a buried stump the wrong way, you won’t get in too many powder days this year.”

While Snowbird prepares to open in less than a month, people around the resort will feel more comfortable as additional storms bring accumulating snowfall.

“It happens every year,” Schory said. “We get a good first snowfall that gets everyone excited for the winter. The key is for people to take precautions so they don’t get hurt.”