2 Skiers Safe After Night In Snow Cave Left Trail At Silver Mountain Resort

Two women who skied out of bounds at Silver Mountain Resort were rescued Friday after spending a frigid night in a snow cave.

Sue Christie Lander and Kathleen Marie Paasch were found in good condition, though Lander’s right foot was frostbitten. She was treated and released at Shoshone Medical Center in Kellogg.

“The scary part was that it was so cold. It got down to 3 degrees overnight,” said resort spokesman Dave Kilmer. “The good part was, the skies cleared so we were able to follow their tracks. With a snowstorm and reduced visibility, this might have had a different ending.”

Lander, 29, is from Moscow, Idaho. Paasch, 33, lives in Palouse, Wash. The women couldn’t be reached for comment.

The Shoshone County Sheriff’s Department, resort ski patrol and members of the Coaster Club conducted the search.

The skiers told their rescuers they were following a snowboarder’s trail when it “just ran out” about 2:30 p.m. Thursday.

After realizing they couldn’t make it back up the hill, they built a snow cave. They lined its floor with pine branches and hunkered down for the night.

Members of the Coaster Club, which Kilmer described as “diehard ski fanatics,” were the first to notice that the pair’s tracks were going where they shouldn’t have been.

That was around 3 p.m. The search began immediately and continued until 6:30 p.m. in the rugged Big Creek drainage, southeast of the ski area.

Sheriff’s office searchers looked through the night down below, where skiers often come out, Kilmer said.

The intensive search resumed around 5 a.m. Searchers made voice contact with the women around 7:30 a.m., and reached them around 9 a.m., Kilmer said.

They were found a quarter-mile outside the ski area.

“We’re extremely pleased to find them alive,” Kilmer said. “There’s a message here for skiers and snowmobilers: Stay in the bounds. We can help you there.”

, DataTimes