Skier Found Near Mt. San Jacinto
Thursday, March 3, 2011 at 23:24 Jeff Lehman Riverside County requested assistance with the search for a missing skier on Mt. San Jacinto on February 21. This call came right on the back of a call to the Baldy area for a missing hiker, and is the typical pattern whenever there is a signficant storm. A similar scenario occured early in January when there were back-to-back and simultaneous searches for a snowboarder on Baldy, hikers in Lake Elsinore, and a hiker on San Jacinto.
Members of SB Mountain SAR, the Cave Team, and Rim SAR responded and were assigned to search likely areas near the summit and Round Valley. The skier was eventually located in the Willow Creek drainage area by members of Sierra Madre SAR and the China Lake Mountain Rescue Group. A unique aspect of this search was the request for backcountry skiers. The conditions were optimized for significant "postholing", so travelling by skis was more efficient.
Riverside County press release
View Search for Backcountry Skier on Mt. San Jacinto in a larger map