Rescue Team Finds Lost Snowboarder / 20-year-old spent night in blizzard

(01-22) 04:00 PST LAKE TAHOE — 1999-01-22 04:00:00 PST LAKE TAHOE -- A snowboarder who lost his way in a Lake Tahoe blizzard and spent a night in a primitive, hand-built snow cave was rescued yesterday by sheriff's deputies and a ski patrol team.

Craig Calcott, 20, of South Lake Tahoe, used his trekking experience and basic survival skills to ward off frostbite and hypothermia during a long, icy night.

A powdery snowfall, winds up to 50 mph and mounds of drifting snow reduced visibility to near zero at the Sierra-at-Tahoe ski resort Wednesday night. Temperatures on the resort's 8,852-foot Huckleberry Mountain dropped into the mid-20s.

Rescuers found the snowboarder yesterday morning in a steep gully nicknamed "The Washbowl," near a cliff known for its avalanches -- an area that's off-limits to skiers.

To everyone's surprise, Calcott was in great shape and all his vital signs were normal.

"He was in pretty good spirits, but obviously he had a rough night," said Sergeant Randy Peshon of the El Dorado County Sheriff's Department. "He had a little luck and he did the right thing by digging in and getting out of the cold."

After being fed two PowerBars, a Snickers bar and hot chocolate, Calcott donned some fresh warm clothes and snowshoes and climbed out of the gully -- refusing further assistance. Then he snowboarded down the mountain.

At a hastily called news conference, Calcott said he was "stoked" the searchers had found him, adding that there was "no way" he could have climbed out on his own.

Calcott explained that he was separated from his friends and continued to snowboard on his own. He followed some ski tracks into the trees from the "Eastabout" ski run, but soon found that the snow was very deep -- up to his neck in some places. The resort has recorded about 80 inches of new snow since Saturday.

Calcott said he knew he didn't have far to go, but darkness was setting in and his progress was extremely slow.

"It's fortunate that he knew what to do," said Nancy Harrison, a spokeswoman for Sierra-At-Tahoe resort on Highway 50, a 2,000-acre facility 12 miles from South Lake Tahoe. "He actually handled himself very well."

An experienced snowboarder, Calcott works at a nearby resort. A native of New Zealand, he has trekked in the mountainous wilderness of his homeland.