This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A 16-year-old snowboarder who went missing from an out-of-bounds area of Snowbird ski resort was found alive and in good condition at about noon Sunday.
Utah County Sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Cannon said the boy, whose name had not been released at midday, apparently hunkered down under a tree overnight in Utah County's Mineral Basin, south of the resort. "Other than a little cold and hungry, he's OK," Cannon said.
Meantime, the search for a missing snowshoer near Mt. Timpanogas had been declared a search and recovery operation, meaning authorities doubt Marshall Higgins of Salt Lake City will be found alive.
The man's family had been told, Cannon said.
Higgins was caught in an avalanche near Hidden Lakes Saturday afternoon.
His companion, Jeff Frederick, was able to ride out the slide and searched for his friend for about 15 minutes without success. Frederick contacted police dispatchers by cell phone. A Department of Public Safety helicopter landed near the bottom of the avalanche and flew him to safety.
Higgins, 33, was married and has two young daughters. Utah County Sheriff's Sgt. Darren Gilbert said Saturday that men were experienced backcountry adventurers, but neither had an avalanche beacon with him on this trip.
Low cloud cover grounded helicopter efforts Sunday morning, but the weather cleared and the air search was to resume after crews from Wasatch Powderbirds cleared the area of any potential avalanches. Cannon said the sheriff's department hoped to get some 45 searchers and a few dogs into the slide area to try to find Higgins.