| Sugar Bowl Ski Resort, Norden, CA--The first major winter storm hit Tahoe
on Friday night and by Monday morning had left more than 8 feet of snow.
Already that snow has claimed the life of one snowboarder at Sugar Bowl Ski
Resort.
Friends reported 16 year old Joel Busath of Sacramento, California missing
at noon on Monday December 23, 1996. According to the Sacramento Bee, Busath
and a friend rode a lift to the Sisters run about 11 a.m. Busath took the
run, but his friend decided not to. Later in the afternoon his snowboard
was found, but there was no sign of Busath.
The Sugar Bowl Ski Patrol in conjunction with the Placer Contry Sheriff's
Office, Tahoe Nordic Search & Rescue and the WOOF Search Dog Team searched
the mountain throughout the night and found Busath at 3:00 a.m. Tuesday,
December 24, 1996 under the "Sisters Chutes".
According to a statement from Sugar Bowl, "His body was buried under
approximately two feet of snow. It appears from the initial site inspection
that Busath took his snowboard off and jumped into deep snow where he apparently
suffocated."
Why he was not strapped into his snowboard, and why he jumped down the chute
was not immediately known.
This is the season's first deep-snow asphyxiation case. Two years ago four
snowboarders died at Tahoe resorts as a result of heavy snowfall.
We'll have more on this story as information is made available.
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Sacramento
Bee's coverage of the story. |
