CARRABASSETT VALLEY – The search for snowboarders who got lost and spent the night on the backside of Sugarloaf Mountain has ended after all four were found safe by wardens and ski patrollers. Two of the four are said to be University of Maine at Farmington students.
The search was focused at the 3,500-foot elevation mark on what’s called the “backside” of Sugarloaf Mountain, a heavily forested area with extremely steep terrain and ravines. The temperature was 22 degrees, with 30 to 40 mile per hour winds on Sunday night. At least 50 inches of new snow has fallen over the weekend, said Deborah Turcotte, spokeswoman for the warden service.
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Wardens and ski patrollers had been in contact with the four by cell phone and came close last night to reaching them in an area outside the ski mountain’s boundary area, said Ethan Austin, a spokesman for Sugarloaf.
Turcotte said one snowboarder, Luke Poisson, 18, of Lewiston, who separated from the three others, was located at approximately 9:30 a.m. today by Maine Warden Service Game Wardens Tom McKenney and Pat Egan. The wardens used a compass in the direction of Poisson’s voice to pinpoint his location, which was approximately 1 mile (as the crow flies) from the marked trail. He was hiked down the mountain to West Kingfield Road, where he was evaluated by an ambulance crew. He did not require hospitalization.
The three snowboarders were located at approximately 10:20 a.m. by teams from the Sugarloaf Ski Patrol. The men were given food and water. At approximately 11:30 a.m., rescue crews still were evaluating what was the best route to get them off the mountain.
The three snowboarders are: Cory Koop, 18, from North Pole, Alaska, who is believed to be a student at UMF; Malachi Belluscio, 19, from Keene, N.H., who attends UMF; and Aaron Nadeau, 15, of New Portland.
Eight game wardens, six members of the Sugarloaf Ski Patrol, and members of the Carrabasset Valley Fire Department participated in the search.
“The ski patrol got within yelling distance of the skiers last night, but visibility was really bad so they had to suspend the search last night,” Austin said. It was snowing hard through the search last night with the area receiving another 5 inches. In addition, the backside of the mountain off the marked trails is steep, not groomed and heavily wooded, making finding the lost snowboarders extremely difficult at night.
Authorities were first alerted when one of the skiers called family members to report they were lost. Patrollers and the warden service were called after dark at 5:35 p.m. Sunday.
Wardens told the snowboarders at 1:30 a.m. they had to suspend the search and advised them to “hunker down, dig themselves into the snow,” Austin said. Rescuers arrived back at 5 a.m. this morning to continue the search. The snowboarders are tired and cold but are reportedly fine this morning, according to patrollers in contact this morning.
The snowboarders told the Maine Warden Service that they were following snowboard tracks and did not see the out-of-bounds signs.
On Friday night, a group of snowboarders went missing off the marked trail in the same area and were located within a couple of hours.
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