CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN, Wash. (AP) — Searchers plan to resume their efforts Thursday to locate a skier missing at Washington’s Crystal Mountain ski resort.
The News Tribune says the advanced skier last seen getting off a chair lift Tuesday afternoon has been identified as Paul Melby. Ski area spokeswoman Tiana Enger says he is believed to have been skiing by himself. Friends reported him missing about 4 p.m. Tuesday. Ski Patrol teams searched until 11 p.m. Tuesday. Ski Patrol members, volunteers and avalanche dogs searched on Wednesday, as did several friends and relatives.
Crystal’s Ski Patrol leader Paul Baugher says it’s unlikely Melby was trapped by an avalanche or skied out of bounds but he could have been trapped in a deep pocket of snow around a tree. Searchers have been hampered by more than 3 feet of snow that has fallen in the last three days.
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Information from: The News Tribune, http://www.thenewstribune.com
