Sierra Skier Found Dead; Son Survives

A cross-country skier from San Francisco who disappeared in last weekend’s powerful Sierra Nevada storm was found dead Monday, but his 18-year-old son survived.

Seachers found the body of James Augustino, 48, late Monday afternoon in the Castle Peak area about five miles north of Donner Summit.

The body was discovered a short time after a helicopter search team located Augustino’s son, Harley, who survived three stormy nights in the mountains.

The teenager was flown to Tahoe-Forest Hospital in Truckee, where he was listed in good condition with mild hypothermia late Monday.

“It’s amazing anyone could survive three nights in conditions like that,” said Nevada County Sheriff’s Sgt. Bill Evans.

The father and son disappeared Friday in a powerful storm.

“They were just leaving on a day outing as the storm was coming in late Friday afternoon,” Evans said. As much as nine feet of snow has fallen since then.

The youth was trying to ski out to civilization when he was found, Evans said. The teenager told rescuers where they could find his father.

The fierce storm cleared Monday but closed Nevada’s state government and caused rough going for thousands of holiday travelers heading over the mountains.

Slick, congested roadways plagued motorists on Interstate 80 over Donner Summit. U.S. 50 over Echo Summit was expected to reopen late Monday after being closed since early Saturday. The highways connect Sacramento to the Reno-Tahoe area.

“I’m from Norway and this is the worst road conditions I’ve ever seen,” said Lars Sandven of Boise, Idaho, while en route to Geyserville, Calif., on I-80 to spend Christmas with relatives.

The snowfall caused a variety of major transportation problems.

Amtrak’s California Zephyr, traveling from Chicago to Oakland, partially derailed in heavy snow and ice late Sunday about 40 miles north of Sacramento, with 118 passengers aboard, Amtrak said. It took crews about 12 hours to get the train back on the tracks. No one was hurt, an Amtrak spokesman said.

Sacramento-bound traffic on I-80 was backed up about 12 miles from the California line to Reno on Monday morning, causing delays of up to four hours.

“Everybody just decided to leave at the same time,” said Nevada Highway Patrol dispatcher Lynette Rosa. “A lot of people were stranded in Reno over the weekend and anxious to get out of here.”

Caltrans crews were working around the clock clearing snow slides and avalanches from U.S. 50.

“The slides have come down repeatedly. . . . The largest covered the road with snow 20 feet deep and 100 feet long,” said Caltrans maintenance supervisor Norm Butts.

Light snow continued to fall Monday, but weather forecasters said the worst had passed.

“It was just too much snow at once,” said Jennifer Gaston, owner of the Chamonix Inn in South Lake Tahoe, Calif. “But it’ll be a great Christmas businesswise at Tahoe.”