One skier was lifted to safety by helicopter near Lone Peak on Thursday morning,
Three men who had been skiing for hours through the backcountry near Lone Peak in Utah on Thursday were engulfed by a 500-foot wide avalanche that killed two of them, the authorities said.
One man survived and was rescued by helicopter, while search-and-rescue crews looked for the two others after the avalanche was reported near the peak, southeast of Salt Lake City, Sgt. Aymee Race of the Unified Police Department of Greater Salt Lake said.
The two skiers were found dead on Thursday afternoon by search-and-rescue crews, Sheriff Rosie Rivera of Salt Lake County said at a news conference.
They were identified on Friday as Andrew Cameron, 23, of Utah, and Austin Mallet, 32, of Montana, according to the Police Department.
Rain and windy weather made it too difficult to recover their bodies on Thursday afternoon, and search-and-rescue teams returned to the area early on Friday to retrieve their bodies, the police said.
Mr. Cameron and Mr. Mallet had been buried under several feet of snow brought down by the avalanche, the police said.
The skiers, who were friends, were believed to have been skiing for about five hours before the avalanche occurred, Sheriff Rivera said.
The police said on Friday that the three men began their trek around 5 a.m. on Thursday at Hidden Valley Park, northwest of the peak.
The men were experienced backcountry skiers who were equipped with avalanche beacons, transceivers that can emit signals to help being rescued, the police said.
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