By Ivy Sellers
PARK CITY ? Authorities ended the large-scale search for victims of last week''s massive avalanche Monday and said there is a good chance that the slide trapped only a single person.
'Right now, we believe that we have taken the one sole victim out of there,' Summit County Sheriff Dave Edmunds said at a Monday news conference.
A devastating avalanche broke near a ridgeline near Dutch''s Draw last Friday afternoon, just south of the boundaries of the Canyons Ski Resort in Park City. The avalanche slid downward over half a mile, was approximately 500 yards wide at the top and about 30 feet deep at its toe, or stopping point.
The avalanche killed at least one person, and possibly four more believed to be buried beneath its freezing temperatures. It drew more than 150 rescue workers, several rescue dogs, helicopters, ambulances, and other medical personnel to the site, in a four-day search through deep snow.
?On a scale of one to ten, it?s at least a seven or an eight,? said Edmunds, referring to the intensity of the Dutch Draw avalanche. ?It?s a big one.?
As the minutes passed after the avalanche occurred, the chances of recovering a live victim went from slim to none.
?The search for survivors ended 15 minutes after the avalanche stopped,' said Bruce Tremper, director of the U.S. Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center.
Referred to as a 'killer slide' by the National Avalanche Center, the avalanche took the life of at least one victim thus far.
The body of Shane Maixner, 27, of Sandpoint, Idaho, was discovered Sunday morning by rescue workers, buried under 4 feet of snow.
Maixner''s father Joel Maixner said to KUTV News that if anyone could have survived, it would have been Shane.
'He was in excellent condition,' he said. 'But the sheriff told me his head and chest were slammed into a tree. He died without a fight.'
Several eyewitnesses have reported that multiple persons were swept up in the avalanche Friday, but Maixner was the only person who had been identified as one of the victims, even before searchers found his body, Edmunds said.
Gloves, hats and other snow gear have been found by rescue workers, which could indicate the possibility of more victims, he said.
But Monday, after four days of searching, rescue operations were called off.
Monday afternoon no other victims had been found and Edmunds said rescue crews were needed elsewhere.
The area in which the avalanche occurred is part of the Wasatch Cache National Forest, just out of boundaries of the Canyons Ski Resort.
Edmunds said the Canyons has done an excellent job of marking the boundaries and that any skiers or snowboarders who cross the line, do so knowing the risks are high.
To reach the site of the accident, Edmunds said the victims rode the Ninety-Nine-90 chairlift and ignored the danger signs.
The Utah Avalanche Center said Friday that 'considerable danger' still existed on steep slopes along the Wasatch front, indicating that an avalanche was a possibility, and encouraged all to 'stay off of and out from underneath steep slopes...the consequences if you do are lethal.'
According to the National Avalanche Center, people are involved in 90 percent of avalanches that occur.
'Nearly all avalanches that involve people are triggered by the victims themselves or a member of their party,' according to NAC.
Edmunds warned against further trips in the backcountry following the incident and pleaded with those hitting the slopes this season to be cautious.
'It is extremely dangerous right now in the back country,' he said. 'My advice would be not to go to the back country right now. It''s far too perilous. It''s not worth it.'
Seven people have been killed in Utah avalanches this winter so far, which is more than any other year since 1951, when the state started keeping records.
Over the holiday weekend, two more deaths were reported due to an avalanche in northern Idaho, south of Mullan. Snowboarders Brian Brett, 23, of Bellingham, Wash., and Pete Tripp, 23, of Bend Ore. were identified as the victims, students from Gonzaga Univeristy in Spokane, Wash.
The Canyons re-opened Monday, but many outdoor enthusiasts were still concerned about snow conditions in the mountains.
Wendy Webster, a newly married student at BYU majoring in American Studies, told her husband Ben to stay off the slopes this weekend.
'I told him to go another weekend,' she said. ?I don''t want to be a widow at 22.'
But, as her husband pointed out, there is a difference between staying on the trails and going into the backcountry.
Contributing Associated Press