Updates: Three missing people accounted for, One missing skier has been located (Walk in)
Angeles National Forest spokesman Stanton Florea said an avalanche advisory was issued for the ski area at nearby Mount Baldy, a 10,000-foot peak about 40 miles east of Los Angeles, and the lifts were closed.
Avalanche warning is in effect for Mountain High and Mount Baldy
LOS ANGELES -- Mountain avalanches in Wrightwood killed an off-duty ski patrol worker and left another person missing Friday as California strained under nearly a week of snow and rain.
The skier was p ulled from the snow in Wrightwood, a town in the San Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy C. Osterthaler said.
The 23-year-old was identified as an employee of the Mountain High ski area. He was taken to a hospital, where he died at about 4:30 p.m., said hospital spokeswoman Jana Retes.San Bernardino County fire officials said the man was skiing with two friends. The friends have not been located, according to authorities.Teams from Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties are assisting in the search.
A spokesman for Mountain High Resort said at least four avalanches were reported in the last 10 hours. John McColly, director of communications for the resort, said two avalanches were reported on a mountain road and two more were reported in a canyon area.
McColly said the resort received about 4 feet of snow during the recent storms. The avalanches occurred after an overnight storm that dumped new snow."I'm sure that the avalanches are due to the amount of snow that has fallen over the past several days," said Tim Wessel, division chief for the San Bernardino County Fire Department.
The U.S. Forest Service said an avalanche warning is in effect for Mountain High and Mount Baldy.
Update: Three dead - A third avalanche victim has died, but a missing snowboarder walked out of the steep, snow-crusted mountains of eastern Los Angeles County early Saturday.
Friday's avalanche was at least the third and most deadly to catch skiers at the resort this week, officials said.
A large snow slide killed off-duty ski patrolman Michael McKay, 23, Friday afternoon.
A second avalanche, five minutes after the first, caught Darrin Coffey, 33, a veteran Mountain High ski patrol member. He was given cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the way down the mountain, but died at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center.
As much a 5 feet of snow fell at Mountain High this week, most of it in a 48-hour period ending Friday.
Rescuers Friday were working in a known avalanche path in Government Canyon, a gully on the east side of the resort.
Other searchers searched for the missing skier south of the mountain top.
I hope that things calm down, and those involved in this mess find answers.
ReplyDelete