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Skiers in West gleefully take advantage of deep snow

DENVER (AP) - Skiers throughout the West gleefully flocked to resorts Thursday to take advantage of deep, fresh snow dumped by a series of winter storms that were moving east and threatening turbulent weather across much of the Southwest.

At Deer Valley in Utah, Emily Summers said her boss kicked her and her co-workers out of the office and told them to hit the slopes and take advantage of a winter that only comes once a decade.

"This is the snow we dream of," said Summers, a spokeswoman for the resort.

The storms pounded parts of California, Utah, Colorado and other states as they made their way east, creating difficult driving conditions and closing roads. Small avalanches and white-outs were reported in some areas.

More than 6 feet of snow had fallen in the upper elevations of the Sierra Nevada since Sunday. In Idaho, snow accumulating for several weeks reached 15 inches in Boise.

Uber driver Jesse Lowman said the record snowfall has been good for business in the city.

"We've got a lot of people stuck, calling in to get rides all the time. It's pretty fun," he said.

Most of the side streets in the city haven't been plowed because the highway district is focusing on keeping main roads and feeder streets open. Some neighborhoods were tough for Lowman's pickup to traverse.

In Sandy, Utah, A.J. Simmons took advantage of his day off to go sledding with his 2-year-old son for the first time.

His son, Everett, mostly cried as his father pulled his sled slowly down a small hill at a park in frigid temperatures. After one run, Simmons put his son in the warm car with his wife and took a few trips down the hill himself.

The turbulent weather was expected to spread a wintry mix of rain, sleet and snow across large swaths of Alabama, the Carolinas and Georgia, with 2 inches of snow forecast for Atlanta.

Ski resorts in the West used their social media accounts to spread the news of the white stuff and lure skiers who have been anxiously waiting to hit the slopes.

Some encountered problems.

A skier was rescued Wednesday after dangling from a Colorado chairlift after his backpack got caught. Luckily, a professional slackliner - a type of tightrope walker known for acrobatic tricks - climbed the lift tower and slid across the cable to reach him.

Mickey Wilson was able to cut the strap, sending the skier falling about 10 feet into the snow below, where a paramedic and ski patrollers waited at the Arapahoe Basin Ski Area. He was taken to a hospital and released.

"Just seeing a person get the life sucked out of them. I kind of stopped thinking and just starting acting," Wilson, who works as a part-time ski instructor for the resort, told The Denver Post about the rescue that was captured in images posted online.

The heavy snow and strong winds raised the avalanche danger in much of Colorado's high country. Some passes were shut down so crews could reduce the chance of slides.

The National Weather Service reported that Salt Lake City International Airport saw nearly 5 inches of snow overnight.

With a threat of freezing rain in parts of the Deep South, forecasters urged residents to be on guard and avoid driving if conditions deteriorate.

"If you have a four-wheel-drive vehicle and you think you're safe, you're not," said Mike Schichtel, lead forecaster at the federal government's Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.

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Associated Press writers Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, Michelle Price in Salt Lake City and Jeff Martin in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Crews work on removing snow along the sidewalk at the Boulder Bus Station. People in Boulder County, Colo., are dealing with cold temperatures and heavy snow on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017. (Cliff Grassmick /Daily Camera via AP) The Associated Press
Sidewalk plow clears path along 100 South in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017. Snow is beginning to pile up along the curbs after three recent storms. (Al Hartmann /The Salt Lake Tribune via AP) The Associated Press
Drivers and pedestrians endure a slow and go commute on snow-packed streets in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, Thursday Jan. 5, 2017. (Al Hartmann /The Salt Lake Tribune via AP) The Associated Press
A pedestrian makes his way across an icy Willamette Street in Eugene, Oregon, Thursday Jan. 5, 2017, after a snow storm dumped several inches of snow on the area. (Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard via AP) The Associated Press
A skier crosses 14th Street in Boulder, on his way to the bus station. People in Boulder County are dealing with cold temperatures and heavy snow Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017. (Cliff Grassmick /Daily Camera via AP) The Associated Press
People enjoy sledding in Plumas Park, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017, in Reno, Nev. A winter storm has swept aside two long-standing snow records in Boise, Idaho, and is moving east as turbulent weather lined up across much of the country Thursday with watches covering large parts of the South. (Jason Bean/The Reno Gazette-Journal via AP) The Associated Press
Construction worker shovels snow from latest storm off scaffolding on new building construction along State Street in Salt Lake City Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017. (Al Hartmann /The Salt Lake Tribune via AP) The Associated Press
Drivers endure a slow and go commute on snow-packed streets in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017. (Al Hartmann /The Salt Lake Tribune via AP) The Associated Press
Mia Stein tackles her Labrador Frankie in the snow during a break in a winter storm, at a park in Boulder, Colo., Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017. A winter storm dropped several feet of snow in the Colorado high country, and over a foot in Front Range communities. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley) The Associated Press
As his wife Gulnara looks on at left, Dmitry Reznik launches his daughter Elana on a sled, during a snow day off from school in Boulder, Colo., Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017. A winter storm has dropped several feet of snow in the Colorado high country, and over a foot in Front Range communities. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley) The Associated Press
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