On the afternoon of Thursday 1/29 a local skier was doing a Lakerun from the Mt. Judah parking area of Sugar Bowl down to Donner Lake. He decided to ski the Heart Couloir, as some call it, directly below the V-notch on the summit and north face of Donner Peak. Below the rocks in the couloir as things steepen the slope fractured about 1' deep and took the skier for a ride into the bottleneck, the tight trees and obstacles mid-slope. In the process he lost a ski, a pole and some other equipment. When the skier didn't arrive home a rescue began from Sugar Bowl. Not knowing exactly where he went, many options around the normal lake run where covered.

As the Heart Couloir was being examined for the second time we received a call the skier had been found in a patrol shack by Mt. Judah by a snow cat driver. The skier, after a potential blown out knee and broken wrist/arm and without most of his ski gear, ended up boot packing out of the couloir back through the V-notch in Donner Peak and over to Mt Judah where he found shelter in a patrol hut.

It appears that the 1' slab that slid was the cumilation of new snow we have had over the last week or so that didn't bond very well with the old firm bed surface. In isolated areas you can expect this efficient sheer plane/bed surface to be with us for awhile, anywhere that has slid or has had a fair amount of wind could be hampered by this layer for some time and it seems more common on the very steep and exposed terrain.

Thanks for the beta. Sounds like a very similar aspect as the slide reported on Castle (see other posting)

Wow! I am glad to hear this person is safe as that is an ugly spot to go fo a ride, even if you just slipped. We were eyeing that exact on way back from Castle on Wed.

Basically the exact same situtation as Castle.

Questionable line choice given the new snow on top of firm, don't ya think!