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Amanda Butterfield ReportingThree cars plunged into the Big Cottonwood Creek this morning after hitting a patch of slick road.
People in the cars were heading up to the resorts for a day of skiing and snowboarding, but ended up going for a wild ride in their cars instead.
It didn't happen too far up the canyon. Every one of the drivers hit the same patch of black ice minutes after each other.
One...two...three SUV's plunge hood first into Big Cottonwood Creek.
Brandon Levi: "We were in the bottom of the creek."
Brandon Levi was in the black Trail Blazer, heading up to the slopes with his family when they rounded a curve.
Brandon Levi: "We saw another car, 180, teetering over the edge."
Brandon's car hit the same black ice, spun-out, and ended up side by side with the silver Rodeo.
Brandon Levi: "Then we both went over the edge together, both of our cars."
They had to get out, which meant getting wet. Then, minutes later, that Montero hit the same black ice and went down the river, too.
Russell Allred: "We hit that rock and rolled over, and that's it."
Upside down in frigid water, they only had one way out.
Deputy Sheriff Paul Christenson, Salt Lake County Sheriff Patrol: "Wet, river, freezing, hypo, bruises cuts abrasions."
That was the worst of the injuries. And the Deputy Sheriff says they all had another thing in common: they were going a little too fast for the conditions.
Deputy Sheriff Paul Christenson: "Yeah, it's speed, due to the icy roads, if you're going the speed limit you're going too fast."
