SAR volunteers spend night with skier near Lake Tahoe

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE - Douglas County, El Dorado County and Washoe County Sheriff's Search and Rescue (SAR) teams, paramedics and Blackhawk rescue helicopters all assisted in the location and retrieval of two skiers who went missing at Heavenly Mountain Resort Thursday evening.

Douglas County 911 operators received a call on February 22 at 5:00 p.m. from two male adults who said they were lost at the resort. They said they had some water, but were wet and cold, their cell phone batteries were diminished, and one of the skiers suffered from a medical condition.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) SAR team was activated and launched a search and rescue mission. At about 8:00 p.m. they located both men in Mott Canyon, on the east side of the Carson Range. They were identified as Timothy Dane age 24, from Branford, Connecticut and Eshai Delacruz, age 25, from San Francisco, California.

Delacruz was able to evacuate with SAR members to a staging area, where he was cited and released for Skiing Out of Bounds, which carries a bail/fine of $640.00. Dane was unable to evacuate on foot, due to a medical condition unrelated to their misadventure.

SAR requested a helicopter evacuation from NAS Fallon. The air evacuation could not be completed due to weather conditions. The volunteers erected emergency shelters and remained with Dane through the night. Another SAR team had to respond to the shelter location to bring Dane medication.

Douglas County SAR made a mutual aid request and several members from the El Dorado County SAR and Washoe County SAR teams responded to assist in this operation.

With improved weather conditions Friday morning, NAS Fallon launched another Blackhawk rescue helicopter, and at about 8:30 a.m. that aircraft and crew were able to air lift Dane and took him to the Minden Airport where he was met by paramedics from the East Fork Fire Protection District and Deputies from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. Dane declined treatment, and was 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. We would also like to remind those that 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," said DCSO Undersheriff Paul Howell.