Huntsville, UT – A 15-year veteran of the Snowbasin ski patrol was caught in an avalanche during control work prior to the resort’s opening this morning.

Mike Erickson, 42, had just deployed a hand charge in the John Paul area at around 7:45 a.m. Tuesday, and had skied away prior to detonation onto an adjacent low-angle slope when the slope released above him, according to the Weber County Sheriff’s Office. Erikson was partially buried despite deploying his airbag, and sustained injury when he was swept through some trees and rocks.

After being extricated from the slide debris by two other patrollers, Erikson evacuated by toboggan and rushed to an area hospital, where he was being treated for some cracked ribs and possibly other injuries.

Following the incident, Snowbasin delayed opening of its John Paul and Porcupine lifts until 1 p.m. today to allow for further avalanche mitigation efforts.

A massive winter storm is currently impacting Snowbasin and the rest of Utah, with up to three feet or more of new snow predicted for some areas by Christmas Eve. The Utah Avalanche Center has rated the avalanche danger in the Snowbasin area today at “High”, or a 4 on a scale of 1 to 5. South of Snowbasin, some of the Wasatch Mountains surrounding the city of Provo — where today’s avalanche danger is listed as a 5, or “Extreme” — have already received over four inches of snow water equivalent from this storm in the past 24 hours.