Frigid Wind Slams Deputy Marshal Into Ice, Breaking His Leg : Ski Trip Turns Into a Winter Nightmare

For four friends from Orange County, all deputy marshals, a cross-country ski trip in the Sierra Nevada ended in a desperate rescue effort when a squall from an Alaskan-spawned storm suddenly hit.

Deputy Marshal Jack Quinn, at work Tuesday at Orange County Superior Court, recounted the ordeal that occurred during what was to have been a 3-day, back-country skiing trip last week.

The four friends had not counted on a massive change in the weather, but as they slowly trudged on skis at the 9,500-foot elevation on Thursday, violent winds suddenly enveloped them. An 80-m.p.h. gust of frigid wind lifted one deputy marshal into the air, then dropped him onto a patch of ice, breaking his leg.

The injured man was Tim Dick, 45, of Mission Viejo. With him were Quinn, 48, of El Toro; Chuck Thurber, 30, of Buena Park, and Shane Conway, 30, of Rancho Santa Margarita.

Quinn said the accident scene was the eastern entrance to Yosemite National Park, on Highway 120, about 5 miles west of the town of Lee Vining. The highway had been closed by snow and ice.

“We were headed for a camp called Tioga Pass Winter Resort,” Quinn said. The men had stayed overnight at Lee Vining, and “on Thursday morning we started up the mountain.” From Highway 120, it was 6 1/2 miles to the camp.

“The temperature was about 15 to 20 degrees above zero,” Quinn said. The wind-chill factor, however, brought the effective temperature to about 30 degrees below zero. “We were hitting steady 50- to 60-mile-per-hour head winds right from the start.

“We were on our skis, and the going was very slow. About 5 miles up the road, the snow started turning icy.”

The men put “skins,” which are coverings to improve traction, on their skis. The drop from the side of the icy road was 1,000 feet, Quinn said.

“Winds started gusting up to 80 miles per hour. Shane turned around and saw Tim somehow being picked up by a gust of wind and slammed into the ice.”

The others ran to help the deputy and found he was in agony, with a broken lower right leg, Quinn said. “We used a collapsible ski pole to make a splint, and we put Tim in a space blanket and sleeping bag. We had survival equipment with us.”

Thurber and Conway stayed with the injured man, and Quinn set off on skis for the final 1 1/2 miles to the mountaintop camp. “Yeah, I guess I was anxious,” Quinn said. “I just kept telling myself, ‘One step at a time.’ ”

Conway said the men worried as the weather deteriorated. “I always felt we were going to get out of there, but I was concerned about the weather--how long we’d last. It was freezing cold.”

Quinn said he reached the Tioga Pass camp about an hour later and by radio-telephone notified the Mono County Sheriff’s Department.

“They sent paramedics from June Lake and Lee Vining. The snowmobiles (used by the paramedics) could get up to Tim, but the ambulance couldn’t even get close to him.” The rescuers had to call in the California Department of Transportation to cut a road through the snow for the ambulance.

The snowmobiles then carried the injured deputy a few miles to the ambulance, which took him to a hospital in Mammoth. He was flown back to Orange County on Saturday and is recuperating at home, Quinn said. The injured deputy declined to be interviewed.

Quinn said the incident proved the value of carrying survival gear on cross-country ski trips. One other thing also made a difference, he said: “We’re experienced skiers and used to being in the outdoors.”

But even 20 years of skiing, Quinn added, did not prepare him for that 80-m.p.h. wind.

“I’ve never seen anything like that.”