‘A tremendous amount of danger,’ Solitude tells skiers to stop entering closed terrain
Jan 8, 2025, 8:00 AM | Updated: 8:53 am
An open terrain gate entering Solitude's Honeycomb Canyon warns skiers of avalanche and cliff danger on Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023. (Mariah Maynes/KSL NewsRadio)
(Mariah Maynes/KSL NewsRadio)
SALT LAKE CITY— In a recent video, Solitude Mountain Resort asked skiers to obey terrain closures. An uptick in rope ducking prompted the message.
Ski Patrol Director Doug Catherine said as the resort has opened its lifts this season, they’ve noticed more people entering dangerous areas.
“These people are skiing directly above and onto actively mitigating teams,” said Catherine. “When this happens, it puts our team in a tremendous amount of danger.”
Resort ski patrols are staffed by highly trained and knowledgeable individuals. They make terrain closure decisions to keep skiers and snowboarders safe.
Ropes or signage signal closed terrain. Avalanche danger, mitigation or other hazards are all factors in terrain closure decisions.
Entering closed resort terrain severely increases the risk of injury and death for rope-ducking participants and rescue crews that would be involved if an avalanche or emergency occurred.
“On storm days it requires a tremendous amount of avalanche mitigation to open up the terrain here,” said Catherine. “All of our lifts except for Link lift, our beginner lift, are influenced by avalanche terrain.”
Utah is currently in the midst of a dangerous avalanche season. Two avalanches have already proven deadly. As of Jan. 7, a persistent weak layer continued to be a snow stability issue.
Additionally, Catherine said the uptick in rope-ducking has prompted ski patrol to delay some lift openings.
“This causes delays in the areas of Powderhorn, Eagle and Summit terrain,” said Catherine.
Ducking rope lines is illegal
When you see terrain closure ropes at the ski resorts, obeying them is not optional.
In the video, Catherine said that Solitude is enforcing a rule that rope ducking will result in a loss of skiing privileges for at least 30 days.
The rule is not new or unique, however, Solitude’s website says entering closed resort terrain is “punishable by the loss of skiing or snowboarding privileges and a Class B misdemeanor citation.”
Additionally, other resorts use similar policies. For example, Park City Mountain Resort’s website says that entering closed terrain could result in pass suspensions or prosecution.
Related: Salt Lake avalanche danger remains high; backcountry travel discouraged by UAC
