Officials said the skiers went missing on Lone Peak near Salt Lake City.
Salt Lake City’s Unified Police Department said two skiers were killed and a third hospitalized following an avalanche on Utah’s Lone Peak.
The skiers are believed to have been buried by an avalanche in the backcountry, police said.
The deceased were reported to be 32 and 23 years old. Aimee Race told reporters.
The skier, who was hospitalized, was being treated for minor injuries after he was able to extricate himself from the snow and tried to save his two friends before calling for help, Race says.
Officials said search and rescue experts were unable to reach the crash site because the avalanche conditions were so dangerous.
Police said the two bodies remained on the mountain after rescue operations were suspended until 4pm local time due to renewed snowfall on the mountain.
Large, dangerous avalanches are rare late in the ski season because daytime warmth usually stabilizes snowfall, Craig Gordon of the Utah Avalanche Center told reporters.
A recent storm of about 30 inches changed weather conditions very quickly, raising the risk dramatically, Gordon said. He said the area north of Lone Peak is steep and technical, complicating rescue efforts.
As is often the case for nearby ski resorts with large resources, the Alta Ski Area told ABC News that it sent a ski patrol and an avalanche rescue dog to help with the search and rescue effort.
This is a growing story. Check back for updates.
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