Update at 2:14 p.m. on Wednesday: RCMP say the missing man has been found safe.
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Poor weather is hampering efforts by search and rescue crews looking for a skier who’s been missing on Red Mountain in Rossland since Monday afternoon.
South Columbia, Rossland, Castlegar and the Nelson Search and Rescue groups were called at about 6 p.m. Monday night after Mark Anthony Gayowski failed to return off the slopes.
“They went out and did some preliminary searching around Kirkup, Grey and Esling Creek area, and managed to find some tracks,” says Mike Hudson, the head of the South Columbia SAR.
“They followed those tracks for some time until about 12:30 a.m. due to deteriorating conditions with the snowfall, darkness and fog.”
Hudson says search efforts resumed at about 7:30 this morning, with about 30 people involved in the search by ski, ATV, snowmachine and on snowshoes.
“Conditions are still pretty snowy and foggy, but we have five teams in the field, and we’re heading back to the location where we found the tracks, both from the bottom and the top and hopefully we’ll find him somewhere in the middle.”
Gayowski is described as a Caucasian male, 34-years of age, who stands about 6 feet tall (1.8 metres) and weighs approximately 209 pounds (94 kilos). He was last seen wearing a light blue ski jacket, a pair of black ski pants, a brown toque and ski goggles.
A reminder that conditions change rapidly and the avalanche risks are moderate to high. Take extra precautions and supplies to stay safe out there. Up to 30 centimetres of snow is still expected to fall in the area.
