Avalanche
Industry News
On Sunday, March 24, the ski conditions at Sugarloaf, Maine were superb. 24 inches of light powder had fallen overnight, and the skies had turned clear. It was a day any skier would dream about. However, on his second run of the day, local skier Nathan Sanborn would have a moment of terror.
Inbounds avalanches are uncommon, especially on the East Coast, but today wasn’t a typical day. Over the past four days, 37 inches of new snow and 30 mph winds had created a wind slab problem. As Sanborn dropped into a chute off of Skyline Drive and made his first turn, the snow started to move. He was carried 20-30 feet as large slabs of snow broke over his head. Luckily, he was able to get his arms up and clear snow from his face as he came to a stop. He was then able to dig his arms out enough to try to pop his skis off but was unsuccessful. He was stuck.
Fortunately for Sanborn, Nik Krueger, a former Sugarloaf ski instructor, was skiing the same chute. He was able to traverse around the debris, slide down, and dig him out with his hands. He unlatched Sanborn’s boots from his skis and crawled through multiple feet of snow until they were both on their feet.
In an interview with the Boston Globe, Krueger described the rescue:
“If it had been a larger amount of snow and less terrain underneath, someone could have definitely been really, really injured. Once you get into those slides, they’re extremely hard to get out of. There was a ton of snow all over the place, it’s crystal blue skies, and the winds were scouring the mountain. You were definitely not a beginner going up to the section where this happened. After [the rescue] we laughed about it for a second, and I said, ‘Well, I’ll get out of your way now’. It was just another part of my day, I saved someone’s life, and I kept rolling.”
In his own social media post, Sanborn also recalled the incident and was glad he was able to stay relatively calm through the entire ordeal. He noted how he had skied the chute many times before and his ski partner had swung around the run and was waiting several hundred feet below him. He also pointed out a few lessons to be learned, such as never thinking an avalanche can’t get you, skiing with a whistle, not skiing by yourself where you might not be found, and keeping your phone somewhere you can reach it if you get in trouble, injured, or somehow trapped.
This incident could have been much worse, and we are glad it had a happy ending. It is a testament to both parties staying calm and acting swiftly together for a safe outcome.
