Crews find lost snowboarders

Herald and News
Klamath Falls, Oregon
November 16, 2004

Two teenagers and a 12-year-old from Klamath Falls were rescued by search crews at Crater Lake National Park late Sunday after a botched snowboarding trek. Donald Lucero, 16, Coty Huard, 14, and 12-year-old Justin Silva were discovered cold and huddled together in the lower Dutton Creek area about 11 p.m., six hours after the boys were reported overdue, according to National Park Service rangers. The trio had planned to snowboard down a slope toward a park service road, but became lost when they went into the wrong drainage, the park service reported.

They traveled about two miles through heavy snow before stopping at nightfall about two miles from their starting point, rangers said. They told rangers they planned to wait out the night, expecting to be rescued in the morning, rangers said.

Once found, the snowboarders were given snowshoes and hiked about two hours to a park road, rangers said.

About 30 people took part in the search. No one was injured.
Park service officials warned people who venture into the park this season to carry extra clothing, food, water, flashlights, maps, compasses, matches and other equipment to deal with unexpected emergencies.

One of the missing snowboarders had a cellular telephone, but it had no signal in the steep terrain, rangers said.