Three out-of-state skiers have temporarily lost their skiing privileges after officials say they skied off the back of Sugarloaf in out-of-bounds territory and got lost Sunday.
The skiers are Thomas Birch, 23, of Harwich, Massachusetts; Logan Allard, 23, of Manchester, New Hampshire; and Ryan Sharby, 24, of Goffstwon, New Hampshire, Cpl. John MacDonald of the Maine Warden Service said in a statement.
The skiers called 911 at 2:41 p.m. after two hours of bushwhacking, Fire Rescue Chief Courtney Knapp said Monday.
The back of Sugarloaf is a steep and remote area, Knapp said. It was very cold, it was snowing heavily and was windy at the time, he said.
The rescue crew used snowmobiles to search for the missing skiers. Once rescuers got down to the area, the skiers walked out to a skidder trail and met up with one of the crew.
They were not injured, Knapp said. Snowmobiles and utility vehicles transported them to the staging area.
“We talked to them after they got out and temporarily restricted their skiing privileges,” Sugarloaf spokesman Ethan Austin said.
The men were very humble about it and took responsibility for what they did, he said. Austin didn’t have the specifics of where they went out of bounds but they clearly ducked under a rope somewhere, he said.
People who ski out of bounds put other people at risk, Knapp said.
The Sugarloaf Ski Patrol assisted in locating the men, Austin said.
Assisting Carrabassett Valley and Kingfield fire departments in the rescue efforts were the Maine Warden Service, Carrabassett Valley Police Department and Franklin County Regional Communications Center in Farmington.
dperry@sunmediagroup.net
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