A beautiful, sunny day on the mountain turned into a mountain rescue emergency Saturday as an avalanche swept up and injured a snowboarder at Eaglecrest Ski Area.<\/p>\n
Ski patrollers were able to rescue the 28-year-old male and bring him to the bottom of the mountain at about 12:54 p.m., patrollers report. He was then transported by ambulance to Bartlett Regional Hospital for treatment, Capital City Fire and Rescue chief Ed Quinto said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got a report from a ski patroller who actually witnessed an avalanche occurring out of bounds of the ski area,\u201d Quinto said by phone Saturday. \u201cThe person was injured and transported to the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n
The hospital\u2019s Emergency Department was evaluating the skier as of 4 p.m. Saturday, according to Bartlett spokesperson Katie Bausler. At that time, he was reported as in stable condition.<\/p>\n
The skier ventured out of bounds alone on a little-used steep slope adjacent to the ski area parking lot when he triggered an avalanche. The slope, informally called \u201cShowboat\u201d as it\u2019s located in full view of a potential audience in the parking lot, is about a 45 minute to an hour and a half hour hike from the bottom of the Hooter chairlift.<\/p>\n
Patroller Mattheus Tempel witnessed the avalanche from the chair.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was riding up Hooter looking at Showboat and saw that a guy had triggered an avalanche and was taken down out of sight,\u201d Tempel said.<\/p>\n
The man was traversing the slope on the way down Showboat when he was caught in the slide.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was kind of cutting across and got caught in the avalanche that he triggered,\u201d Tempel said. The man was swept into a gully out of patrollers\u2019 line of sight.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just called on the radio to the Eagle\u2019s Nest and they from there had another guy spotting and I was just kind of watching to see if he came out,\u201d Tempel said.<\/p>\n
Eaglecrest Director of Snow Safety Brian Davies then dispatched two patrollers to assist the man. Patrollers \u201chiked up one at a time and traversed over to him, made contact and did a medical assessment,\u201d Davies said.<\/p>\n
The man was ambulatory enough to hike out on his own feet. Rescuers escorted him down to CCFR first responders and a waiting ambulance.<\/p>\n
Davies stressed that skiing out of bounds can be risky, putting not only skiers at risk, but the rescuers who have to head into avalanche territory to recover them.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst and foremost he was not in the ski area,\u201d Davies said. \u201cIt\u2019s dangerous for everybody and we don\u2019t want to get anyone else hurt or pull resources away from people skiing in bounds.\u201d<\/p>\n