By Mike Romero
A dangerous stunt at Bridal Veil Falls by skier, surfer, and skater Zach Blocker has prompted local government to take swift action up Provo Canyon.
A large avalanche hit Bridal Veil Falls last January. Between 30 and 40 feet of snow crashed onto the frozen Provo River. While most of it has melted away, the icy remnants have formed caverns and cracks with access to the icy Provo River, which is at a dangerously high volume. Blocker found one such instance and used it to enter the river. While definitely not encouraged, Blocker’s video demonstrate just how strong and dangerous the Provo River currently is. The water was a mere 30 degrees.
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The video prompted local government to take action. Early Wednesday morning, the Utah County Sheriff’s Office cleared the snow block with explosives. Explosives have only been used twice in this area since 1996 to manage the large snowpack. The area remains closed until the remainder of the snow and debris is cleared.
“We didn’t make the area safe. We made it less dangerous. It’s trespassing if people come in here and we will take action on that if we need to,” says Spencer Cannon, public information officer for the Utah County Sheriff’s Office. “It’s fascinating to see, we understand that, and that’s one of the things that attracts people to it. But it’s too risky to come down here to the area itself and especially to climb on the avalanche deposit. The main reason we did this today is to prevent somebody from getting seriously injured or killed by doing what this guy did last week.”
Provo Tribune: Local News for the Provo/Orem Area 