51-year-old snowbiker killed in avalanche in Uintas near Kamas

KAMAS — A 51-year-old Summit County man has been found killed by an avalanche after a search and rescue operation Friday and Saturday.

Dispatch received reports of a snowbiker who had not returned home by 5 p.m. Friday, according to a press release by the Summit County Sheriff's Office. The man was believed to have been in the backcountry alone near Hoyt Peak in the Uinta Mountains northeast of Kamas, the release said.

Search and rescue operations began in earnest, with teams finding an area with a recent slide, but "extremely hazardous conditions" forced commanders to call the search off late Friday, according to the release. Teams resumed searching at first light on Saturday, finding the man dead at 10:49 a.m.

"It was determined that the individual had been caught in the avalanche," the release said. His identity has not been released, and the Utah Avalanche Center announced it is working to release more information on the slide, initially saying the man was a snowbiker.

The avalanche center shows considerable avalanche danger along the Wasatch and Uinta ranges, with avalanche forecaster Craig Gordon saying that "warmth and strong spring sunshine ... may help reactivate several weak layers now buried deeply in our snowpack."

This tragedy marks the fifth avalanche fatality this season.