Salt Lake City, UT – A forecast from the Utah Avalanche Center (UAC) for a “moderate to considerable” risk of slides in the central Wasatch Mountains on Tuesday didn’t dissuade a backcountry skier who was injured in an avalanche in Big Cottonwood Canyon.

One skier was caught, carried, partially buried and injured in a large avalanche Tuesday afternoon, according to the UAC. The incident occurred on a steep northwest-facing route known locally as Holy Toledo, at 10,200 feet in the Cardiff Fork of Big Cottonwood Canyon and across the ridgeline from Alta Ski Area and Snowbird. UAC observers estimate the slide at 150 feet wide and three to five feet deep at its crown, wiping out previous ski tracks on the slope.

Wasatch Powderbird Guides, a helicopter skiing operation based at Snowbird, was flying in the area at the time of the avalanche and airlifted the injured man to Snowbird Center, where he was reportedly being treated for leg injuries.

The incident comes just five days after Douglas Green, 49, of Seattle died in an avalanche on Gobblers Knob, just a few miles away.