Western skiers flock to slopes in snowstorm

DENVER — As the Southeast prepared for treacherous winter weather, skiers in the West flocked to resorts Thursday to take advantage of deep, fresh snow.

At Deer Valley in Utah, Emily Summers said her boss kicked her and her co-workers out of the office and told them to hit the slopes and take advantage of a winter that only comes once a decade.

The storms pounded parts of California, Utah, Colorado and other states as they made their way east, creating difficult driving conditions and closing roads.

More than 6 feet of snow had fallen in the upper elevations of the Sierra Nevada since Sunday. In Idaho, snow accumulating for several weeks reached 15 inches in Boise.

Ski resorts in the West used their social media accounts to spread the news of the snow and to lure skiers.

But some encountered problems and the storm proved to be deadly.

A skier was rescued Wednesday after dangling from a Colorado chairlift after his backpack got caught. Luckily, a professional slackliner — a type of tightrope walker known for acrobatic tricks — climbed the lift tower and slid across the cable to reach him.

Mickey Wilson was able to cut the strap, sending the skier falling about 10 feet into the snow below, where a paramedic and ski patrollers waited at the Arapahoe Basin Ski Area. He was taken to a hospital and released.

On Thursday, one of two missing backcountry skiers found in the central Colorado mountains died while he was being treated for hypothermia.

The storm also brought heavy snow and strong winds that raised the avalanche danger in much of Colorado’s high country. Some passes were shut down so crews could reduce the chance of slides.