SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) – After days of being closed due to avalanche mitigation efforts, S.R. 210 through Little Cottonwood Canyon has been reopened temporarily to allow skiers to travel out of the canyon.

The canyon opened for downhill and outbound traffic only at 5 a.m. on Friday, April 7. It will close again for more avalanche mitigation efforts at 9 a.m. with no estimated time for a more permanent reopening.

Little Cottonwood Canyon has been closed since Utah’s latest storm in the first week of April. Skiers and employees at Snowbird and Alta ski resorts have been in and out of interlodge orders since Monday night. This is the first time those skiers will be able to come down off the mountain since last weekend.

On Thursday, the resorts were placed on another interlodge order after it was lifted in the same morning due to an avalanche in the Snowbird area. The naturally occurring avalanche started in the lower section of Mt. Superior. Snowbird officials conducted probes as a safety precaution for anyone caught in the avalanche but reported no one was impacted.

Meanwhile, S.R. 190 through Big Cottonwood Canyon is backed up as skiers look to get into the mountains for Easter weekend. Solitude let its visitors know that the parking lot is expected to fill up this morning. UDOT recommended carpooling or taking the UTA SkiBus to help alleviate traffic congestion.

As of Friday, April 7, there is still a considerable avalanche danger in the Salt Lake mountains, particularly on west-, south-, and southeast-facing slopes.

UDOT will reportedly be monitoring mountain conditions closely and will continue to perform avalanche mitigation as necessary. Slide debris on the S.R. 210 in Little Cottonwood Canyon is still ongoing.