SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah, Jan. 30, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — The Salt Lake County Sheriff Office Search and Rescue crew was called out Saturday afternoon to help a skier who was cold and trapped.
The call came at about 4:22 p.m. “for a hypothermic skier cliffed out near the popular couloir, ‘The Needle,'” a statement from SLCO SAR says.
“Due to the remote location of the skier, the conditions, and rapidly losing daylight, it was decided that a helicopter extraction would be the most viable rescue option. A secondary ground team was deployed as a backup in the event the helicopter was unable to pick off the patient from the mountain.
“The DPS helicopter brought in successfully hoisted the patient out of the area and landed in the Gad Valley parking lot, at Snowbird, where the patient was assessed by EMS.
“Thank you to @snowbird ski resort for letting us use their parking lot to base our helicopter operations out of. And as always, thank you to the @utahdpsaerobureau for providing helo support.
“Remember to bring the 10 essentials when you are going out into the backcountry – and any gear you may need for your objective. It is recommended that you should always have enough gear to spend the night in the mountains if you need to.”
The 10 essentials, according to the REI website, are tools for navigation, sun protection, insulation, illumination, first aid, fire, a repair kit, hydration and emergency shelter.
