Six skiers were rescued Sunday just outside Heavenly Mountain Resort’s boundaries.

At approximately 1pm, Douglas County Search and Rescue was called out for a lost 16-year-old snowboarder in the Palisades area, off Lower Kingsbury Grade in Stateline. The subject had called 911 via cell phone after unintentionally snowboarding out of bounds at Heavenly when his visibility was reduced due to heavy snowfall. He had become lost and did not know how to extricate himself from the area.

DCSAR responded with 18 members consisting of several snowshoe and snowmobile teams, and a tracked Sno-Cat to search the area where the subject was believed to be lost. After approximately an hour of searching, DCSAR located the lost 16-year-old, as well as four other lost and disoriented skiers/snowboarders. All five subjects were transported to safety.

Later that same day, at approximately 5pm, DCSAR was called out to search for a 19 -ear-old skier trapped on the mountainside near the Heavenly gondola. The skier had intentionally skied out of bounds, and had mistakenly run into a tree well, causing his skis and legs to become entangled in branches, trapping him to the point that he was unable to free himself. The skier called 911 via cell phone to request emergency assistance.

This was a high-priority call for DCSAR due to continued heavy snowfall, a rapidly approaching nightfall, and the potential of having a fallen skier lying wet and injured in the snow throughout the night.

DCSAR quickly remobilized their rescue team and began a new search. DCSAR was able to access the area only by snowshoe. The teams located the subject, and began extrication and providing emergency medical aid. Due to potential injuries sustained by the subject, DCSAR transported him off the hill in a rescue toboggan. The subject was later transported to Barton Memorial Hospital.