Rossland skier was 'smiling' when found after two nights in B.C. backcountry
Credit to Author: Glenda Luymes| Date: Fri, 03 Jan 2020 01:02:16 +0000
The searchers found tracks a few minutes after midnight on Dec. 30 as heavy snow began to fall over Red Mountain Resort in Rossland.
It was good news, but also bad: They now knew missing skier Mark Gayowski had descended into an out-of-bounds area called the Esling Creek basin, but early-season conditions meant it would be a dangerous rescue in terrain best described as “horrific,” by South Columbia Search and Rescue president Mike Hudson.
The search for Gayowski was put on hold until daylight.
A few hours earlier, the 34-year-old skier had fought his way through unstable snow over trees, rocks and icy water after entering the backcountry near a black diamond run called Unknown Legend.
A long-time Rossland resident whose father called him “bull-like” when speaking to searchers, Gayowski left behind a trail of busted branches as he moved downhill.
“He did everything right in the situation,” said Hudson.
The search resumed at dawn on Dec. 31. Thirty-two searchers in two groups began to scour the creek basin, with one group descending from the top, and another working up from the bottom. After almost seven hours, they were forced to turn around to avoid spending the night outside. At that point, a two-and-a-half-kilometre section in the middle of the basin remained unsearched, said Hudson.
It was there that Gayowski spent New Year’s Eve, moving to keep warm.
On the first day of 2020, eight search and rescue teams from across the Kootenays set out to find him. The approach from the top was abandoned as it was deemed too dangerous. Instead, a team worked up from the bottom, while another came from the side, accessing the area via another mountain.
Within a few minutes of entering the area, they made voice contact with Gayowski.
“He was smiling when he saw us,” said Hudson.
With help from searchers, the skier, who was cold and wet, was able to walk to an old helipad, which was quickly cleared of debris.
A break in the weather allowed a helicopter to land.
Trail RCMP reported Gayowski was found “safe and sound” on Wednesday afternoon.
Red Mountain Resort president Don Thompson said Gayowski made “not a good choice” to ski out of bounds, but the outcome was “a great way to start 2020.”
Hudson gave credit to the 90 searchers who spent a total of 800 hours in the backcountry. “We’re all pretty tired today.”
Meanwhile, an Oregon police officer says a B.C. teenager who survived a 150-metre fall near the top of Mount Hood on Monday was climbing a technical section of the mountain at the time.
Sgt. Marcus Mendoza of the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office says search and rescue crews worked for hours to rescue a 16-year-old from Surrey when he slid down the mountain southwest of Portland.
The teen, identified by media and a fundraising page as Gurbaz Singh, fell from a section of the mountain known as the Pearly Gates down to the Devil’s Kitchen.
Mendoza describes the Pearly Gates as a “highly technical” icy chute that is the last major section of the climb before reaching the summit.
He says the teen broke his leg and damaged his helmet as he fell but avoided other major injuries, despite risks posed by the gear he carried, including spiked crampons and an ice axe.
The teen was taken to a nearby lodge where an ambulance was waiting, then went to hospital in Portland.
“The co-ordinators were surprised that his only major injury was that broken leg. He is very lucky to survive that fall,” Mendoza says.
“There are a lot of hazards; this isn’t like sledding down a hill.”
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