Off-duty firefighter Tom Elbrecht, out exercising with his dog, gave the injured skier his coats and a granola bar and stayed with him for eight hours as search and rescue team wrangled with the danger of more slides. UACwasatch
A map of Neff's Canyon from the Wasatch Backcountry Skiing Guide. A backcountry skier was rescued by an off-duty firefighter on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022, in the Thomas Fork of Neff's Canyon.
Though he ultimately didn’t need it, the skier did have an avalanche beacon in his backpack, Champion said. When turned on, a beacon emits a constant beep and can be critical in helping rescuers locate someone who is buried or stranded. If a backpack with a beacon is ripped off in a slide, though, it can also cost rescuers valuable time. So Champion advised carrying them close to the body in a harness or sewn-in pocket.
“I knew the second I made that call that it was not going to be a 30-minute deal. It was not going to be an hour deal. It was going to be hours,” he said. “But as we started approaching 4:30, 5 o’clock, it was getting a little discouraging.” Around 4:30 p.m., two search and rescue members arrived. They dismissed Elbrecht, but he chose to stay to help. Together, they transported the skier by foot to the, where a snowmobile with a sled took him to an ambulance waiting in the trailhead parking lot.
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