Dozens of skiers, snowboarders and snow lovers in general were stranded for hours this weekend as Utah transportation officials shut down a major highway for avalanche mitigation efforts.

A man rescued his brother from a “large avalanche” he triggered while the pair were snowmobiling in Utah on Wednesday, authorities said.

The Salt Lake County sheriff's office says David Ethier had been splitboarding in the Millcreek Canyon area on Saturday, but was swept under the snow during an avalanche.

A Quebec man killed in an avalanche in Utah over the weekend is being remembered as an avid outdoorsman who loved nature. Utah authorities said David Ethier died while splitboarding Saturday in Millcreek Canyon near Salt Lake City and his body was recovered on Tuesday.

David Ethier, 38, of Quebec, was riding his splitboard - a snowboard that splits in two pieces - in Millcreek Canyon with his black Labrador on Saturday when the natural disaster occurred.