TNSAR search 12/2/02
TNSAR search 12/2/02


Lost Snowboarder, Alpine Meadows
At 17:15 TNSAR was dispatched to a missing 31 year old snowboarder at Alpine Meadows. His friends had seen him ride from Ward Peak heading West into the 5 Lakes Creek drainage. 7 skiers took groomers to Ward Peak and started searching the Grouse Creek drainages on a clear, moderately warm night. 3 skiers were in reserve at the summit patrol building. After about 30 minutes board and boot tracks were found, following the old tracks left by missing persons and searchers from the previous two searches into this drainage. The tracks continued down past the same LZ that people had been previously flown out of, then continued on the west side of 5 Lakes Creek, with some backtracking and exploring thrown in. Steve Reynaud and Peter York did an excellent job of tracking. At about 21:40 the teams caught up to Dennis .8 (eight tenths of a) mile SW of Diamond Crossing, still on 5 Lakes Creek. He was in good shape, lucid, though cold and shivering. After some food, water and dry clothes, he felt strong enough to start hiking out, so it was decided that all should hike up Powderhorn Creek drainage to rendezvous with snowmobiles at the lowest point they could access.

At about midnight after hiking about 2.5 miles, contact was made with the snowmobilers, and Dennis started the really hard part of his night. At about 02:00 he was delivered to Powerhorn Pass by team snowmobilers and handed off to sheriff’s snowmobilers for the trip down Blackwood Canyon via Barker Pass Road. Team skiers hiked or were snowmobiled to Powderhorn Pass, where a snowcat met them and took them out to Hwy 89. All team members were out at about 03:45.

Sheriff Com Van Dispatch Truck/Command Post Skiers Snowmobilers Snowcat
Dave Hunt
Fred Carey
Larry Terri Viehmann
Diane Rienstra
Robyn Collette
Randy Sharp
Russ Viehmann
Peter Sporleder
Randall Osterhuber
Jim Granger
Ron Driller
Steve Twomey
Steve Reynaud
Mark Johnson
Peter York
Mike Kennett
Dirk Schoonmaker
Dave Olsen
Bernie Mellor
John Pang
Rod Mayne
Brian Devore
Shannon Owens
TJ
Larry Sevison
Dave Gleske