Missing snowboarder spent the night at a hotel
Updated Jan. 10 11:45am
A missing snowboarder from Gardnerville said he spent the night at the Horizon hotel-casino with an acquaintance.
He called his dad about 9am Thursday to say he was fine. According to deputies who spoke with Corey Hoffman, he was unaware a search had started the previous evening at Heavenly Mountain Resort.
“After a lengthy interview with Corey and his brother who had reported him missing, we are unable to determine exactly what transpired,” Douglas County Undersheriff Paul Howell said in a statement. “The details are conflicting due to the consumption of alcohol.”
Hoffman claims he and his brother became separated at a bar in the Heavenly Village. The brother believes they became separated on the mountain.
The sheriff’s department reports the search involved 75 people from several jurisdictions and volunteer organizations, and two helicopters at an estimated to cost $40,000.
“More importantly in needlessly risked the safety of search and rescue personnel who conducted this search in bad weather and hazardous terrain,” Howell said.
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Updated: Jan. 10 10:25am
Missing snowboarder Corey Hoffman has been found alive. More details to come.
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Weather and avalanche conditions are hampering efforts to locate a Gardnerville man on Heavenly Mountain Resort.
Corey Hoffman, 24, was snowboarding with his brother Jan. 9 when they got separated. Hoffman has not been seen since Wednesday afternoon.
Douglas County sheriff’s deputies believe he is still on the mountain because Hoffman’s vehicle was located in the parking lot of the resort. The man’s cell phone was found in the vehicle.
Rescue teams plan to concentrate on the Mott Canyon and Daggett Creek drainages on the east slope and the in-bound ski areas near Stagecoach Lodge. Because Hoffman was boarding in and out of bounds Wednesday search efforts will include both in and out of bound areas.
Hoffman was wearing black snow pants, black sweat shirt, and brown hat with fur trim and black boots. He has an orange Camelback pack and has a red snowboard.
Douglas County Search and Rescue, El Dorado County SAR and Heavenly ski patrol searched throughout the night. Their efforts have been hampered by snow, wind, and avalanche danger.
Washoe County Sheriff’s Office and Tahoe Nordic will join the effort today. It’s possible a Navy search helicopter from NAS Fallon will be part of the search.
— Lake Tahoe News staff report
Wonder if Heavenly can use EpicMix to track him? Wouldn’t that be interesting to see what lift he hit last. I’m sure they’ve already thought of that.
The fact that It snowed last night is not going to help.
He is probably somewhere outside the resort proper. 3 seperate large side country areas he night be in.
Kolo News reporting on line that they found him alive but no details.
Thats good news, now waiting to hear if he was found (On the Mountain OR? he just flaked off on his riding buddies
Common courtesy,
you check in with Ski buddies when you leave the Mountain. Or even head off somewhere away from the group.
Now with cell phones in our life’s there is no reason for this
Other than that I do not know what to think.
Hey Admin!
Thanks for the fast accurate updates.
Very well done. Again.
I work from home so I am online many hours a day. This is turning out to be a pretty good distraction.
I guess I need to click on that Donate button
Thanks. Glad this turned out well.
Now somebody needs to knock some sense into that knucklehead who left his buddies without checking in.
Charge the fool the $40,000 and yank his lift priveledges for the next 5 years.
Charge him.
What a waste of tax dollars
Yes, send him the bill. What a selfish, me, me, me attitude. His lack of common sense and courtesy to his ski party, sadly to say, is sad and becoming too much the norm.
Make him pay for the search and yank his pass! The little idiot apparently doesn’t know that skiing drunk is just as dangerous to himself and others as driving drunk.
“The details are conflicting due to the consumption of alcohol.” “Hoffman claims he and his brother became separated at a bar in the Heavenly Village. The brother believes they became separated on the mountain.”
Just how drunk does one (or possibly two in this case) have to be to not remember where they had last seen each other? Here’s an example of a young person being incredibly selfish, intoxicated and irresponsible at the expense of others, along with causing needless risk to the safety of search and rescue personnel. Thank goodness no harm came to any of those individuals searching for this person who “spent the night at the Horizon hotel-casino with an acquaintance”, and was likely leading with the ‘little head’.
Contrary to what many people believe young people do have some responsibility and accountability for their actions since it’s not possible to protect them from themselves. Charge him the $40,000 and make him accountable for his own stupidity.
Up Date Jan.11:45
OH HUM ! Anyone, was the acquaintance male or female?
$40 thousand for what reade’s like a SCAM.
4Mer was the pun intended ?
When I lived in colorado and had some friends go “missing” overnight on their snow mobiles in a Wilderness area they had to not only pay for the Rearch and Rescue but had to pay for the ticket of being on snowmobiles in the wilderness. That taught them a lesson and gave a good financial boost to the S and R people who risked their lives looking for them in the middle of winter in the middle of Wilderness. Yank his pass!!!
Can someone explain to me how it would be justified to charge the non victim that OTHERS initiated the search and rescue effort for? And yank his pass? What exactly did he do wrong. He and his brother made no real plans and he forgot to call his brother due to intoxication. Now if he was 5 I could understand the worry when he didn’t call, but he is an adult, and once again let’s remind ourselves that there was no PLAN to communicate that each brother was off the mountain. So what exactly did he do wrong that would be worthy of 1)being charged a fee for being looked for when he was never lost, and 2)losing his pass? Did he duck a patrol rope? Did he ski out of bounds in dangerous terrain? Please enlighten me to what HE did that warrants blame in this situation?
Biggerpicture:
“Douglas County sheriff’s deputies believe he is still on the mountain because Hoffman’s vehicle was located in the parking lot of the resort. The man’s cell phone was found in the vehicle.”
I think under the circumstances this person’s brother acted appropriately. What if this had been a worst case scenario and his brother had not contacted the authorities? There was no way for him to know that his brother had “hooked-up with an acquaintance.” While there may be some legal validity to your query about charging the “non-victim” who did not initiate the search and rescue, the remainder of your remarks are reminiscent of an adolescent. The reason people make the effort to communicate with each other, especially in our harsh winter climate, is so other individuals won’t become concerned about your safety and scared for your life. It’s called being considerate and responsible so you don’t make people worry needlessly. A simple telephone call to his brother would have alleviated everything, and blaming the lack of that action on booze is ridiculous.
Agreed. But my point is that he did NOTHING wrong, inconsiderate yes, wrong NO!
Here’s the big picture:
Two adults drive up a CLOSED road (Burnside Lake Road) to “test” a four wheel drive, get stuck, spend a week, one dies, many search and worry, and in the end the survivor that was lucky to survive a STUPID, WRONG en devour, makes money from getting national exposure for being so stupidly lucky to survive. She almost gets a hero’s welcome home.
Now back to our current conversation: One somewhat irrisponsible, inconsiderate young man forgets to call anyone when he get’s lucky and has some fun and unbeknowst to him a HUGE search and rescue effort (and I want to thank our Search And Rescue folk involved) is launched on his behalf, and people are calling for his head.
Think about it!
Good point Biggerpicture. And were the Burnside Lake people charged for the search? They should have been. And what about the Snow Globe girl, was she charged for the search?
Biggerpicture:
Your measurement of right and wrong is vastly different from mine. Splitting legal hairs, he may have done nothing wrong but ethically he was absolutely wrong since his non-communication indirectly caused the search and rescue efforts. Like I said before, a simple telephone call to his brother would have alleviated everything. It’s what responsible and considerate people do in our harsh winter climate, even if they do get lucky. I agree with you that this young man was irresponsible and inconsiderate.
Okay. Give him a stern talking to! Pull his pass, charge him $40,000? Legal hairs or not, THAT IS WRONG!
Steven:
“And what about the Snow Globe girl, was she charged for the search?”
Since the “SnowGlobe girl” died she certainly can’t be charged for the search, and I would venture to guess that her parents believe they’ve already paid a large enough price for that horribly tragic incident.
Biggerpicture:
You’ve got your opinion and I’ve got mine. In the overall scheme of things neither one of us gets to make the final decision on what is wrong nor what is right in this matter.
4-mer-usmc
I expected to hear back your exact comment from someone. Her death makes no difference. She made the choice to drink and wander and resources were used to look for her. What if one of the searchers were hit by a car and killed? She was an adult, probably has a credit card or other assets, and they should be charged, just as you wish to charge the snowboarder.
4mer, hate to beat a dead horse, but in your last statement are you REALLY insinuating that he SHOULD be held responsible for the cost? REALLY?
Biggerpicture:
No, and I don’t think that could legally be done, which I believe I referenced in an earlier post. My point is and always has been that this person was irresponsible which caused the circumstance of the search and rescue effort.
Now I have a question for you. Do you ever get tired of picking up the tab for other people’s dumb actions? Thank goodness this circumstance ended well, but the huge expense and utilization of resources could have all been avoided with one lousy phone call if this guy had just thought a little bit with the big head instead of entirely with the little head. I think that people need to act with more responsibility and when they don’t they’re going to get dinged.
Steven:
While you have assumed that I want to charge the Snow Boarder the fact is that is something I don’t think can legally be done, which I believe I referenced in an earlier post. My point is and always has been that this person was irresponsible which caused the circumstance of a costly search and rescue effort.
And while your remarks related to the deceased “SnowGlobe girl” as you refer to her may have some validity as to the yet unknown and unfortunate choices she made, I find them insensitive under the circumstances.
4-mer
As you stated to biggerpicture, I am tired of picking up the tab for people’s dumb actions. It is unfortunate if someone is hurt or dies, but “people need to act with more responsibility and when they don’t they’re going to get dinged”
And as far as the snowboarder, maybe he was just to out of it and a new friend let him crash in their hotel room to sober up. We have not heard all of the details. Maybe his brother should be charged for making the call, wasn’t he drinking also?
Steven:
I’d be willing to bet that all the details will never be published. I don’t know if anyone can be charged for the costs associated with this but it really does get tiresome picking up the tab for other people’s dumb actions. I’m finding myself less patient with irresponsibility in my old age but this situation, like so many others is just the way it is I guess. Thank goodness this did end well, because as we’ve recently seen it could so easily have been otherwise.