79-year-old skier fights to survive in tree well after going off-trail, Montana cops say
A 79-year-old skier built a small fire and used pine boughs to warm himself while spending the night in a tree well in Montana, officials said.
The skier had become disoriented after going off-trail, the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office said in a Feb. 19 post on Facebook.
A helicopter search and rescue team found him the next day and lifted him to safety, according to deputies.
Two Bear Air Rescue shared the footage of the rescue on its Facebook page.
The video shows a rescuer being lowered from a helicopter onto a snowy area between tall trees, then later being hoisted back up with the skier in tow.
The skier was in good condition, according to the group.
A friend reported the skier missing Feb. 17 after he didn’t make it down from a run in the Blacktail Mountain Ski Area in Lakeside, deputies said.
A search by air was stopped because of poor visibility, but ground searchers looked for him until about 1 a.m., according to deputies. The search picked back up in daylight.
Two Bear Air Rescue found the skier at about 3 p.m. Feb. 18, deputies said, praising “his survival efforts and the dedicated search teams.”
Lakeside is in northern Montana, about a 15-mile drive southeast from Kalispell.
This story was originally published February 21, 2025 at 1:20 PM with the headline "79-year-old skier fights to survive in tree well after going off-trail, Montana cops say."
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