On Sunday, April 10 at 8:41 p.m., the Park City Police Department received a complaint from someone on Daly Avenue saying there was a snowmobile rider in Empire Canyon. The machine was noisy, the police were told.
A day earlier, on Saturday, April 9, the police were called to Daly Avenue at 6:24 p.m. by someone with a similar report. The person told the police a snowmobile rider was seen at the southern end of the street. The person who contacted the police said she was worried about the possibility of an avalanche and wondered whether someone was allowed to ride a snowmobile at the location, according to police logs.
Earlier on Saturday, at 12:19 p.m., someone had contacted the police asking questions about snowmobiling in Empire Canyon. The police told the person the canyon is prone to avalanches and can be "highly dangerous," according to public police logs. The dispatcher told the caller the Guardsman Pass area was safer.
Daly Avenue is situated at the southern edge of Old Town, running from the top of Main Street to Empire Canyon. The canyon is a popular spot for snowshoers and cross-country skiing in the winter. Empire Canyon, though, has steep walls in some places and is susceptible to avalanches.
Cheryl Fox, the executive director of the Summit Land Conservancy, a not-for-profit group that ensures some of the land in Empire Canyon is kept undeveloped, said someone contacted her organization at about the same time the police received the reports.
Fox said the Summit Land Conservancy is investigating the reports.