Lost Skier Found Safe After 2 Days

A California woman who was missing for two days at a Sierra ski resort had nearly given herself up for dead when rescuers found her safe and in good condition Monday afternoon.

Sara Norvill, 37, of Danville, Calif., said she ate snow and spent two nights in a snow cave she dug and lined with leaves and pine needles about 2 miles outside the Sugar Bowl ski area.

She was conscious and able to walk when a snowmobile team found her in the Onion Creek drainage about 1 p.m. Monday.

Using mascara and a hotel confirmation letter, she had written a note to her fiancee Sunday:

“I’m so sorry I got lost and I’m trying to resist the cold. I love you. Be safe. I will be your guardian angel.”

Monday morning she wrote, “Made it through the night. I’m all sheltered but weak. . . . Why didn’t anyone look for me? I could have been saved.”

Norvill apparently had crossed the posted ski area boundary near Mount Lincoln and traveled into national forest land, which is not patrolled or regulated by the resort, resort officials said.

She had no serious injuries but was transported to the Tahoe Forest Hospital in Truckee and was expected to be released from the hospital late Monday.