A Rossland teenager’s smart decisions led to her quick rescue on the ski hill last Friday.
Rossland Search and Rescue were called out about 8 p.m. when the teen was reported missing on Red Mountain.
She had gone out skiing on the hill but had not checked in as expected, around 3 p.m.
With snow and biting cold temperatures forecast, SAR director Graham Jones says the team responded quickly.
“SAR Rossland had about 20 people that turned out, realizing the severity of the situation, how it could have turned out if it had gone wrong,” says Jones.
Working from a lead that someone had spotted an odd set of ski tracks heading out in an unusual direction, the SAR team headed out to find the girl.
Everything went the searchers — and the subject’s — way, as the 13-year-old responded exactly as she should have in the situation.
“Realizing she was disoriented, and skiing somewhere she wasn’t as familiar with as she thought, she made her way to the shack at the base of the Paradise lift and waited where she was comfortable,” says Jones. “She was probably the least concerned of everyone, parents included.
“We had her in our chair way less than an hour after setting up our command station at the resort.”
Jones commends the youth for keeping a calm head and doing everything she should have in that situation.
“For a teenager to think that clearly, instead of trying to self-rescue, or make other choices, she made the perfect choice,” he says. “To say ‘Okay, I know where the chair lift base is, I’ll go down there… she was able to go in and make herself comfortable and she was warm and cozy when our team found her.”
The young woman was quickly reunited with her worried family.
