Missing Skier Rescued After Sub-Freezing Night in Snow

A skier from Orange who got lost near a San Gabriel Mountains resort was found in good condition Sunday after spending the night in a remote, snowy gulch with nothing but his clothing and a piece of bark to protect him from sub-freezing temperatures, authorities said.

Steve Ensminger, 23, was “cold and hungry” but otherwise “perfectly OK” when he was rescued by a helicopter crew about 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said.

“He’s alive, he’s in great shape, he’s not even hypothermic,” said a relieved Steve Cramer, manager of the Mountain High ski area near Wrightwood. “He’s a very lucky man.”

Ensminger became separated from friends while skiing with them Saturday afternoon. When he failed to return to the base of the mountain at the end of the day, members of the local ski patrol began looking for him and, when they were unable to locate him, called in search and rescue teams from the Antelope Valley sheriff’s station.

Three helicopters and 34 rescuers from surrounding jurisdictions aided the search. But no trace of Ensminger could be found until Sunday morning, when rescuers found ski tracks on the back side of the mountain that ended at the site of an avalanche.

At first, rescuers feared that Ensminger might have been swept up in a wave of sliding snow. In fact, he had skied through the area before the avalanche occurred, and a helicopter crew spotted him about 10:45 a.m. in Bear Gulch, about five miles from the ski area, Sheriff’s Deputy Bob Nimtz said.

Rescuers rappelled down the mountain, and Ensminger was airlifted to safety. He was examined by paramedics but did not require medical treatment, Nimtz said.

Ensminger told rescuers that he took a wrong turn on the mountain Saturday afternoon and became disoriented, then tried to find a way out and stopped when it got dark, Nimtz said.

“The kid was smart,” said Sheriff’s Deputy Ronald Thomason from the Antelope Valley station. “He dug out a little depression in the snow with a piece of tree bark and got under a bush, out of the wind.”

With the wind-chill factor, temperatures in the area dropped to 35 degrees below zero Saturday night, Thomason said.