Feb 4, 2008 9:23 am US/Pacific
Search Resumes For Missing SF Skiers
TRUCKEE (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ―
Rescuers searched Monday for two skiers that went missing near Lake Tahoe during a winter storm that dumped fresh snow in the Sierra Nevada and closed a 40-mile stretch of highway north of Los Angeles.
Patrick Frost, 35, and Christopher Gerwig, 32, both of San Francisco, were last seen Saturday morning at the Alpine Meadows ski resort just west of Lake Tahoe.
Efforts to rescue the two men, described as expert skiers, were suspended Sunday night and resumed again around 7:30 a.m. Monday, according to the Placer County Sheriff's Department.
"I would say if they sought shelter, and they're not wet and not caught in an avalanche zone, then their chances are good," Placer County sheriff's Sgt. John Giovannini said.
The men were last seen in the bar in the Alpine Meadows ski lodge at about 11:30 a.m., sheriff's officials reported. The two apparently received instructions or directions from other patrons regarding backcountry skiing off of the Scott Chairlift and Beaver and Estelle bowls, according to the sheriff's office.
Sheriff's officials have not determined if the men followed the directions.
A search immediately started for the skiers Saturday evening, but extreme weather, avalanche danger, and the onset of darkness impeded efforts, the sheriff's office reported. Searchers returned to the mountain at first light Sunday, a sheriff's dispatcher said.
Search teams including ski patrollers and the Tahoe Nordic Search & Rescue Team have been involved in the efforts, according to the sheriff's
office.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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