PATROLLERS CAUGHT IN SLIDE

This article was published in the February 22, 2025 Edition.

 On Feb. 14, two Mammoth Mountain Ski Patrollers were caught and buried in an avalanche inbounds on Mammoth Mountain at approximately 11:30 a.m. 

The first patroller was recovered at the scene uninjured; the second patroller, a female rookie on the patrol team, was transported to Mammoth Hospital with serious injuries and later flown to the Renown Regional Medical Center Reno for further care. 

The injured patroller made it through Friday night, but her condition remained extremely critical through the next day, Steven McCabe, Senior Director of Mountain Operations, wrote in an email to staff on Saturday. 

Mountain representatives have stated that the victim’s status remained unchanged as of Thursday. 

The slide occurred during avalanche mitigation work on Lincoln Mountain, a sub-peak above Canyon lodge. The areawas closed to the public at the time of the incident. 

Police closed off all traffic to the area and the entire mountain and paramedics confirmed that the two patrollers were the only victims in the slide over the police radio. Lift operations closed at noon for the day and the mountain opened late the following morning. 

The avalanche occurred after a snowstorm had dropped approximately six feet on Mammoth Mountain’s summit in 36 hours, and heavy precipitation and strong winds continued throughout the day on Friday. 

The Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center had placed an avalanche warning on the area in the days before the event, discouraging people from traveling in and below avalanche terrain. 

“Even sheltered slopes could be dangerous,” the ESAC report stated. “Because we have buried weak layers in our snowpack, storm slab avalanches have the potential to break wider than expected.” 

The Mammoth Mountain Ski Patrollers Alumni Association held a fundraiser at the Warming Hut on Tuesday, five days after the incident, where patrollers promised to “always remember” her.