SAN MIGUEL COUNTY - It was a rope and a prayer for a 48-year-old Ridgway athlete who was seriously injured Wednesday while skiing in the closed Bear Creek Drainage area during severe weather conditions.
According to the San Miguel County Sheriff's Office, Scott Kennett - well-known in skiing circles as an extreme freeskiing legend - was skiing in a closed area Wednesday afternoon with a 16-year-old juvenile, whose identity was not released.
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The Telluride Ski Patrol and SMCSO search and rescue team battled avalanche and blizzard conditions to reach the fallen skier. Eventually, Heidi Attenberger and Peter Inglis were able to ski into the Contention Avalanche Chute and stabilize Kennett for transport.
The snow let up long enough for Telluride Helitrax pilot Chuck MacFarland to airlift Kennett for treatment. According to Berg's news release, he was flown to Telluride on a 75-foot rope attached beneath the helicopter.
Timing was everything - the blizzard struck up again almost as soon as the craft landed.
Berg said Thursday Kennett was taken to Montrose Memorial Hospital. By Thursday afternoon, however, the hospital had no record of a patient by that name and his condition was not known.
According to his wife, Patricia, Kennett's tibia and fibia were broken in the accident. She was not available for further comment.
The extreme avalanche conditions in the drainage area Wednesday put all concerned in danger, Berg said. "There were avalanches coming down all over the place even before we got the snowstorm. It was an extremely unstable snowpack in an extremely dangerous area."
He said a federal closure was in effect on the drainage area and there were also private inholdings nearby.
The Daily Press could not reach the correct Forest Service staff member for further information about the closures.
Berg said that in general, people should not risk backcountry skiing during major storms, regardless their experience.
"We don't in any way mean to infringe on the experienced mountaineer who knows what he's doing," he said, but still, was "in amazement" at the decision to ski in poor conditions that some qualified, experienced skiers nonetheless make.
As to Wednesday's snowstorm, Berg said no expert would've concluded there was any reasonable degree of safety for skiing at the Bear Creek Drainage.
Charges related to alleged illegal skiing were being considered against Kennett Thursday, but Berg declined to comment and San Miguel Sheriff Bill Masters said his office was waiting for the Forest Service to look at the incident.
"The Forest Service has to look at it," he said. "They have to look into it about him having a juvenile there, too. There might be potential liability there."
Contact Katharhynn Heidelberg via e-mail at katharhynnh@montrosepress.com
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