Avalanche Resources
March 14, 2002--
Avalanche control sends a wall of fresh snow into an Alta lodge, tossing cars in the parking lot hundreds of yards away.
"We heard all the guns going off, and then we heard a really loud 'Boom!', and snow going over on the other side. That's when we knew that we'd been hit," recounts one witness.
The slide ripped across the highway and into Alta's Peruvian Lodge, sending a wall of snow crashing into the building and the cars parked there.
But since this was a planned slide, everyone was kept safely away from danger.
News Specialist Sam Penrod reports.
Thursday's avalanche was intentionally started, to prevent someone from accidentally triggering a slide when skiers were on the mountain.
But still, this slide shows just how powerful new snow on the mountain can be.
With 40 inches of new snow Thursday morning at Alta, avalanche control crews were concerned about a potential slide area above Alta's Peruvian Lodge.
Everyone was ordered inside, and just after 8:15 am, a slide came thundering down.
Jeff Moore/Skier: "Big plume of powder came over the top of the building. A bunch of guests ran over to the window to see what was going on. The fire escape was blown off the building and a big blast of cold air came into the building."
The blast of snow threw several cars around the parking lot, buried others and knocked out the windows of some rooms at the lodge.
Still, managers of Alta say the man-made slide was the best option to keep people safe.
Todd Collins/Alta Ski Resort: "We can fix anything up here. The important thing is that no one is hurt, that's the main thing."
The road was closed to Alta for about two hours, as crews worked to clear the road of snow.
But many drivers weren't going anywhere, since their cars were right in the path of the slide.
Brian Zuppardi/Skier: "My car was parked over on the other side of all of these cars, parked in the second row of cars. When it (the avalanche) came in, it flipped it up and lifted it up over these cars and landed all the way over here."
Cars that were not in the slide's path were buried in the three and a half feet of new snow at the top of the mountain.
And even though Brian Zuppardi's car was thrown around by the snow, it didn't discourage him and hundreds of other skiers from getting out on the slopes.
Brian Zuppardi/Skier: "I'm going to go and get a couple of hours in-- need to enjoy some of this beautiful snow."
But with so much snow in the Cottonwood canyons over the last 24 hours, there is still the possibility of more avalanches, so authorities are warning people to be careful, especially in the back country.
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