UPDATE: Two skiers rescued near Heavenly Mountain Resort | TahoeDailyTribune.com
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UPDATE: Two skiers rescued near Heavenly Mountain Resort

Kurt Hildebrand
khildebrand@recordcourier.com
Douglas, El Dorado and Washoe county searchers gather at the base of Kingsbury Grade after a night on the mountain.
Kurt Hildebrand / The Record-Courier

Rescuers spent a cold and stormy night huddled in a shelter in Mott Canyon after responding to a report of two lost skiers 5 p.m. Thursday.

Members of Douglas County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team were called out Thursday evening after the skiers called 911 to report they were wet and cold and one of them suffered a medical condition.

Searchers found the men about 8 p.m. on the east slope of the Carson Range. One of them, a 25-year-old San Francisco man, was able to make his way out with the help of searchers.



However, the medical condition, which Douglas County Undersheriff Paul Howell said was unrelated to the incident, prevented the 24-year-old Connecticut man from leaving on foot.

Because a snowstorm rolled in, an air evacuation couldn’t be conducted so searchers set up emergency shelters and remained with the man through the night.



A second search team responded to the campsite with medication for the man.

Howell said Douglas County received help from El Dorado and Washoe county searchers in the operation.

A Blackhawk helicopter from Naval Air Station Fallon was launched and at 8:30 a.m. was able to airlift the man from the canyon and took him to Minden-Tahoe Airport where medics were waiting.

The man refused treatment.

Both men were cited for skiing out of bounds.

“The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office would like to remind the public that skiing out of bounds is against the law, and endangers the participants, and those that have to assist them when they become lost or hurt,” Howell said. “We would also like to remind those who recreate in the back country to limit your activities to those that do not exceed any limitations one may have due to medical or physical conditions.”

The fine for skiing out of bounds is $640.

Temperatures on the mountain dropped down to 3 degrees overnight at 8,800 feet, according to a weather gauge near Jobs Peak.

ORIGINAL STORY: Missing man with exposure rescued near Heavenly Mountain Resort

A helicopter was used to airlift a missing person from a canyon near Heavenly Mountain Resort on Friday morning.

Douglas County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue helped located the man and a National Guard Black Hawk helicopter hoisted him up at about 8:40 a.m.

East Fork Fire Protection District medics were dispatched to Minden-Tahoe Airport to meet him.

According to scanner traffic, the man was exposed to the extreme cold.

Temperatures on the mountain dropped down to 3 degrees overnight at 8,800 feet, according to a weather gauge near Jobs Peak.

Authorities on scene said the man had a Connecticut drivers license.


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