As backcountry skiers head into the spring ski season, conditions look as hazardous as they have in years in the western United States, where avalanche fatalities have reached nearly twice their level of a year ago.


The latest avalanche victim was killed Thursday at noon in Utah, when a snowboarder was caught and buried in Dutch Draw, a backcountry area south of Canyons Resort. For details on that accident, read the report at the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC).

 
That brought to 20 the number of avalanche fatalities in the U.S. so far this winte, including six in Colorado, five in Montana, five in Washington, 1 in Wyoming and four in Utah. The fatalities included nine skiers, five snowmobilers, five snowboarders and a snowshoer. Avalanches killed 25 in the United States in 2010-11, 35 in 2009-2010 and 27 in 2008-09.


 

On Monday, forecasts showed most of the areas monitoried by the CAIC and the Utah Avalanche Center at “Considerable” risk of avalanche, although no areas were marked as at “High” or “Extreme” risk. From Utah to Colorado, forecasters say the layering of heavier snow on weaker layers of grainy snow that fell earlier in the winter sets the stage for a particularly hazardous spring season. Experts have likened it to laying a brick on a slope covered with potato chips.


 

Backcountry skiing has been a bright spot for the snow sports industry in recent years as more and more skiers  seek less trampled or virgin powder beyond the gates of groomed ski resorts or by skiing up local mountains. Snowsports Industries America estimates dollar sales of AT/Randonee skis, boots and other equipment rose 90 percent last winter.