Snowboarder who survived avalanche could be charged with trespassing
Snowboarder Christian Michael Mares says he survived an avalanche at Northern California’s Sugar Bowl Resort last week by swimming to the top.
Now, blamed for venturing into a closed area of the ski resort and setting off the snowslide, he faces a potential trespassing case, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.
The 29-year-old says he didn’t know the area was closed and certainly had no intention of causing an avalanche by jumping off a cliff, in an incident captured on video.
But the resort, which ordinarily responds to such incidents by pulling a skier’s pass for as much as a season or more, can’t do so with Mares because he isn’t a pass holder. So it has forwarded the matter to the Placer County sheriff’s office, the newspaper explains. The district attorney’s office will decide whether to prosecute.
“Sugar Bowl Resort places the highest priority on the safety of its guests and employees. The irresponsible and reckless decision to snowboard or ski in closed terrain endangers other skiers and ski patrol, and will not be tolerated,” a spokesman said in a written statement.
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “Negligent hiker injured on trail must pay $9.2K rescue bill, top state court rules”
