On Thursday at about 5 p.m. Douglas County Emergency Communications received a call from two male adults who reported they became lost while skiing at the Heavenly Ski Resort. The lost skiers reported 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 Search and Rescue team was activated and launched a search and rescue mission. At about 8 p.m. the SAR team located both men in Mott Canyon, on the east side of the Carson Range. The men were identified as Timothy Dane age 24, from Branford, Conn., and Eshai Delacruz, age 25, from San Francisco.
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. 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 couldn’t be completed because of weather conditions. The SAR team erected emergency shelters and remained with Dane through the night. Another SAR team had to respond to the shelter location to bring medication to Dane.
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 on 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 reminds the public skiing out of bounds is against the law, and endangers the participants, and those who have to assist them when they become lost or hurt. DCSO would also like to remind those who recreate in the back country to limit activities to those that don’t exceed any limitations one may have due to medical or physical conditions.