Two Snowboarders Still Missing in Wolf Creek

By Carson Bennett, 1-21-08

	Caption: The San Juan Mountains, Wolf Creek

On the first weekend in January, one of the biggest storms in Wolf Creek’s recent history dumped more than eighty inches on the San Juan mountains in three days. Two snowboarders from Albuquerque, two snowboarders from Santa Fe, and two families of snowmobilers from Farmington went missing in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico during the storm. Avalanches throughout southern Colorado closed mountain passes, including Wolf Creek pass, hampering search efforts, and the snow continued to fall.

On Sunday, January 6, the snowmobilers took shelter in a cabin near the Cumbres and Toltec railroad, while the snowboarders missing near Santa Fe built a snowcave. Both parties had cell phones with them, and were eventually able to call 911. The snowmobilers were rescued on Monday when the storm broke long enough for one of them to hike out and call for help. The Santa Fe snowboarders were airlifted out of the mountains near Little Tesuque Peak on Tuesday, after they stomped SOS in the snow and lined it with tree branches. Unfortunately, there has been no sign of Michael George and Kyle Kerschen, the two snowboarders who went missing near Wolf Creek.

Newspapers have reported that the two young men from Albuquerque, New Mexico, were probably snowboarding out-of-bounds, but were not prepared for a survival situation. They had no extra food or water, no avalanche beacons, no shovels, and, apparently, no cell phones. Authorities searched for the snowboarders with two helicopters and 40-50 rescue personnel on skis and snowboards, but called off the search after a week with no results.

KOB.com quoted a statement released by the families of the two men on January 17: “Due to limited resources from both New Mexico and Colorado county officials and persistent inclement weather, the only search crew actively looking for Michael and Kyle is the Wolf Creek Ski Patrol. We have elected to hire private search and rescue professionals to aid the Wolf Creek Ski Patrol in the ground search.” The statement also states that donations to help fund the search may be made to the Michael George-Kyle Kerschen Fund at any First Community Bank of New Mexico.

Three groups of people went missing, two were found. I don’t think this is a clear-cut case of being prepared versus being unprepared, but this much is obvious: anyone who is going to be skiing out of bounds or doing any sort of backcountry winter travel should expect the unexpected. The snowmobilers got lost and ran out of gas. They were level-headed enough to find shelter immediately, and stay there. The Santa Fe backcountry snowboarders dropped into the wrong drainage and also got lost. They had extra food and water with them, knew how to build a snow shelter, and again, stayed put. Both parties were able to use their cell phones to call for help.

I can only speculate here, since no one knows what George and Kerschen’s situation was (or is), but it seems that they were woefully unprepared for their level of risk. Perhaps the situation could have been avoided. I encourage anyone who skis out of bounds to tell friends where they’re going, when they should be back, and to call for help if they don’t return. It’s better to sound a false-alarm than to be lost in the backcountry. Take an avalanche safety course from an organization like Skyward Mountaineering, based in Ridgway Colorado or Alpine World Ascents, based in Boulder. Check the weather reports, be prepared for storms, and always carry extra layers, food and water, a shovel for digging out of a slide or building a shelter, and a beacon or cell phone. You just may save your life.