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Updated 10:48 a.m. - On Friday afternoon, May 4, Mono County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue (SAR) ground teams, with the assistance of other agencies, recovered and carried out Avdeev’s body from the Cocaine Chute area and concluded this search and rescue operation.

The Mono County Sheriff’s Department would like to thank the Douglas County, El Dorado County, and Yosemite Search and Rescue teams, along with Fallon and Mather Air Stations for their aid in the search and recovery of Avdeev. Final cause of death is pending autopsy and toxicology results.

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On Thursday, May 3, at approximately 3:30 p.m., Boris Avdeev, age 31, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, was found, by search and rescue teams, deceased in Cocaine Chute, a popular backcountry skiing location. Avdeev was an experienced backcountry skier that had gone missing on April 19.

As of Friday afternoon, May 4, Mono County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue (SAR) team, along with the aid of Douglas County and El Dorado County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue teams and a Spartan 895 black hawk helicopter from Mather Air Field, were continuing this operation to recover Avdeev’s body from the chute. The Mono County Sheriff’s Department is asking the public not to respond to this area for any assistance.

This is still an ongoing Search and Rescue operation and more details will be given as they become available. At this time, Avdeev’s cause of death is unknown. -MCSD

Photo: Julien Lecorps

On Tuesday, May 1, at approximately 4:30 p.m., Mono County Sheriff’s Dispatch received a call regarding a black Honda Civic that had been parked near Poole Plant Road off Hwy 120 West since April 19.

Mono County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to the area and found a note left under the windshield wiper of the vehicle stating that a solo backcountry skier was heading up Mount Dana Couloir for the day to ski down Cocaine Chute. With the warmer temperatures, even in the higher elevations, snow conditions have been affected and several avalanches have been seen in this area over the past several weeks.

Boris Avdeev, age 31, of Ann Arbor, Mich., an experienced backcountry skier, has not been heard from since setting out on his solo backcountry ski trip on April 19. On Wednesday, May 2, Mono County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue (SAR) ground teams were dispatched to the Cocaine Chute area to start performing a lower chute search to see if they could locate Avdeev. The ground teams were unable to locate him. On Thursday, May 3, additional resources were requested including a helicopter from Fallon Air Station, two rescue dog teams, and a mutual aid request for Inyo County Sheriff’s and Yosemite Search and Rescue teams to help aid in the search efforts.

This is currently an ongoing Search and Rescue operation and more details will be given as they become available. If anyone has any information regarding this current operation that may aid the search teams, please contact Mono County Sheriff’s Department Dispatch at 760.932.7549. -Press Release