Backcountry access gates along the Park City Ridgeline offer easy access to alluring powder turns and fields of untracked snow — as long as you are willing to cross the threshold of dire warnings and quite real risk to your life.
The gate at the top of Park City Mountain’s 9990 lift was closed following a fatal avalanche that killed a snowboarder in January 2021 in Dutch Draw. The popular backcountry area, which also recorded avalanche deaths in 2019, 2012 and 2005, is still accessible through the remaining gate at Peak 5, though it requires a nearly 700-foot climb to reach the same spot at the top of 9990.
This shift, while meant to discourage casual and ill-prepared skiers, has not eliminated the dangers associated with the terrain.
“To the untrained eye, all of this snow looks white,” said Craig Gordon, forecaster at the Utah Avalanche Center and snow scientist of nearly 40 years. “You could have a couple savvy locals who are tagging the sunny slopes and the low angle slopes, and you could see that all around and even during times of elevated avalanche hazard. To the untrained eye, it seems that it couldn’t possibly be unsafe, and therein lies the problem.”
From what is now a rope line boundary at the top of 9990, the powder fields of Dutch Draw are highly visible to people skiing and riding in the resort. Though seemingly simple to access and highly traveled, Dutch Draw is complicated as avalanche-prone terrain. With a multitude of aspects, sunny, south-facing slopes blend with shallow, rocky areas facing the north.
“These two characteristics could be just 100 feet apart, and it takes a high degree of snow savviness and training and preparedness and most importantly, avoidance, to know if you’re surfing with the dolphins in the south or swimming with the sharks,” said Gordon.
Since the gate closure in 2021, there have been no fatalities in the area, though in early February a skier was caught and fully buried after ducking the 9990 rope line with others. She was quickly recovered with no injuries, and very lucky, said Gordon.
“It’s closed for a reason, period. If you want to access that terrain, you either start in Big Cottonwood Canyon and you have sweat equity invested, or you go off the top of Peak 5 and you do the same. But to violate closures is inexcusable, and this crew is lucky that they all didn’t get smoked in that avalanche,” said Gordon.
The difference in access points from 9990 and Peak 5 is entirely up to experience and sweaty equity, as Gordon called it. Where backcountry venturers would once only need to walk 100 steps from a smooth lift ride up, the climb required from Big Cottonwood or the Peak 5 gate begets a higher level of backcountry experience and effort.
Andy Van Houten, ski patrol director at Park City Mountain, has worked at the resort for more than 20 years.
“Historically, (the gate) provided a really easy access point, but the problem was it was also front and center for folks. I was watching families take little kids out there that had no idea they were actually even leaving the resort. They didn’t know what they were getting into,” said Van Houten.
“I have no doubt in the years that we’ve had that gate closed, that we have 100% at least saved one life, if not more,” he said.
Despite the precaution, some riders continue to ignore boundary closures set by the resort, putting themselves and rescuers at risk. When skiers violate closures, they not only endanger themselves but also divert rescue resources and delay mountain operations. Park City Mountain and the Utah Avalanche Center work closely together to mitigate risks, sharing avalanche information daily and lending aid in the event of an accident.
“When we have to respond to anything in the backcountry zones, it is incredibly labor intensive. We have to shut down the resort zone if we have anything happening in the Dutch area, for example; we shut 9990 down,” said Van Houten. “We can’t have more people adding to the problem and because of the amount of resources it takes to execute these rescues, we need all of our staff in that zone to be part of the rescue and we can’t operate the lift for all other guests.”
When Park City Mountain ski patrol teams are notified of an avalanche in their proximity, their first step is ensuring they are protected as workers under Summit County Search and Rescue within their volunteer service agreement with the county.
“We try to avoid going off property unless we absolutely have to because I don’t want to endanger my team unnecessarily,” said Van Houten. “We absolutely will step in if somebody is in need, but people need to be aware of how deeply this impacts our team and operations when they disobey closures.”
Ducking rope lines and disobeying closures at Park City Mountain will result in the loss of that rider’s pass and can be criminally prosecuted as a misdemeanor. With an unstable snowpack and unpredictable weather conditions this season, Park City Mountain has experienced an increasing disregard for closures across the resort.
“Our rope lines are being treated with less and less respect. There is no “sidecountry” — backcountry is backcountry once you leave the resort. Once you duck a rope, your safety is not guaranteed and our rope lines are there for a reason,” said Emily McDonald, communications manager at Park City Mountain.
The Utah Avalanche Center partners with resorts across the state to increase opportunities for avalanche outreach and education with programs including Backcountry 101 and Know Before You Go.
“I emphasize the proactive, not the reactive. Being proactive is stepping up to help us at the UAC continue to share the avalanche gospel, because we want people to ride the greatest snow on Earth, get back to the trailhead, get back to the lifts and share high fives at the end of the day. Know that this is a particularly unique and blessed place that we live in,” said Gordon. “Don’t love our places to death.”