SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Hampered by heavy snows and avalanche danger, rescuers were uncertain when they would be able to resume searching for at least three snowboarders swept down a Utah canyon by an avalanche and feared dead. Utah County Sheriff Jim Tracy said that weather permitting, avalanche safety crews would bomb the cornices at dawn Saturday to release avalanches, then determine whether it was safe enough to resume the search.
Rescue workers called off their search Friday night in Provo Canyon, about 25 miles northeast of Provo, after authorities decided it was too dangerous to continue.
Two other snowboarders who had been with the missing men when the avalanche hit Friday managed to dig their way out after being buried up to their chests.
Tracy said the missing snowboarders probably would not survive. ``It's not probable at this time,'' he said.
The names of the two Utah County men who survived _ ages 18 and 20 _ and the missing members of their party were not released. One of the survivors was hospitalized with a leg injury, Tracy said. The survivors refused to speak to reporters.
Witnesses reported seeing at least two other parties of skiers, but that has not been confirmed, Tracy said.
A snowshoer reported the avalanche Friday afternoon in the Aspen Grove area of Provo Canyon, about a mile north of Sundance ski resort, said Utah County Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Dennis Harris. The area is considered backcountry and has no avalanche control.
There were three avalanches in succession, Tracy said. The first swept the five snowboarders a half mile down a narrow chute above Aspen Grove. Snow piled up from four to 14 feet deep at the bottom of the slide, which Tracy said was about three city blocks wide.
The second two slides were smaller, he said.
The avalanche hit near the end of a storm that dumped 29 inches of snow in the Sundance area in 24 hours, according to the National Weather Service.
About 100 emergency workers searched as the weather worsened, but the search was called off when they heard small avalanches above them. Officials closed the Provo Canyon road because of the avalanche danger.
It appeared the avalanche broke away at the top of the chute, and that none of the skiers or snowboarders appeared to have set off the slide that caught them, Tracy said.
None of the snowboarders carried standard avalanche safety equipment such as transponders, shovels or probe poles, Tracy said.
