Avalanche on Maine mountain traps skier, who's rescued without injury
BOSTON - A skier on Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine was rescued uninjured after getting trapped in an avalanche but their story comes with a warning for skiers to be careful, even when avalanches are rare in New England.
As the winter winds down, skiers searching for snow hit the slopes after feet of fresh powder fell on Sugarloaf.
"We showed up at Sugarloaf that day. Over 24 inches of snow. Cars were buried in the parking lot," said Nik Krueger. The experienced skier and his friend took a lift as high up as the mountain would allow. "You couldn't get to the top due to high winds in the morning. But what they do have was the T bar, it brought you to the top. Only experienced skiers were in that line. Crystal clear blue skies a ton of snow all over the place," said Kreuger.
But this past Sunday's bluebird day didn't last long. When Krueger and his friend began to ski down the backside terrain, the fresh powder on top of hardened snow started to slide. Krueger watched as the avalanche cascaded down the mountain, swallowing up the skier ahead of him.
"I watched the crest of the avalanche basically happen and saw this stranger now go head first, get buried into the snowbank as the avalanche slide went down," said Kreuger, who then jumped into action.
"I then elected to hop over the slide, ski through all the rubble to where the stranger was, took my skis off and just started digging him out as fast as I could."
Krueger said the skier couldn't move. He dug for close to 10 minutes before eventually freeing the stranger.
"I had faith that we were just going to get out of it OK but with the chip on my shoulder that it could get even worse. I would say we're all trauma bonded at this point," said Kreuger.
The U.S Department of Agriculture suggests skier safety tips, including what to do if you find yourself in an avalanche.
Winter sport safety
- Wear a helmet
- Don't ski or snowboard alone
- Stay on trails
- Understand the weather forecast
- Move diagonal to the avalanche to get out of the way as fast as possible
