facebook-pixel

Skier found dead after search at Solitude resort

Resort closed Apex, Summit and Sunrise lifts as search continued early Tuesday.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The entrance to Solitude Mountain Resort is pictured Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019. A man died while skiing at Solitude on Monday, Dec. 13, 2022.

A skier who went missing Monday at Solitude Mountain Resort was found dead Tuesday morning.

Police said 37-year-old Devon O’Connell, of Cottonwood Heights, was found at 8:20 a.m. near the Sensation run, Fox 13 News reported. The intermediate run is located on the lower portion of the mountain near the Sunrise lift and leads to the Last Chance Lodge.

Solitude Mountain Resort ski patrol was alerted to the missing skier around 6:30 p.m. Monday after he failed to rendezvous with others. The Unified Police Department reported the skier was supposed to be back by 2 p.m. His car was still in the parking lot when the ski patrol got the call.

Search and rescue efforts went until 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, according to the UPD, and then were resumed at 7:15 a.m. The resort, which opens at 8 a.m., kept its Apex, Summit and Sunrise lifts closed until the skier was found. Those lifts began running again around 10 a.m.

There were snowy conditions at the resort before and during the search. Solitude reported receiving 16 inches of snow from a storm that began Sunday evening and continued into Monday. It got 10 inches Tuesday, according to the forecasting website OpenSnow.com.

The skier was wearing a helmet, according to a Solitude press release.

It was the second death in a calendar year for Solitude. In February, a 38-year-old transplant surgeon at Intermountain Healthcare died while skiing at the resort when he fell off a 100-foot cliff.

Help The Tribune report the stories others can’t—or won’t.

For over 150 years, The Salt Lake Tribune has been Utah’s independent news source. Our reporters work tirelessly to uncover the stories that matter most to Utahns, from unraveling the complexities of court rulings to allowing tax payers to see where and how their hard earned dollars are being spent. This critical work wouldn’t be possible without people like you—individuals who understand the importance of local, independent journalism.  As a nonprofit newsroom, every subscription and every donation fuels our mission, supporting the in-depth reporting that shines a light on the is sues shaping Utah today.

You can help power this work.

$15$25$35
Author
Julie JagOutdoors Reporter

Julie left the beach of Santa Cruz, Calif., where she worked for 17 years, for the mountains of Salt Lake City in 2019. She has covered the NBA Finals, the Super Bowl, the World Series, the Maverick's big wave surf contest and two Olympics. A Colorado native, she enjoys creating her own adventure, occasionally with her husband and two kids in tow.