After searching the past five days, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office announced this afternoon that they have suspended its search indefinitely for Sugar Bowl ski instructor Carson May, who was reported missing last Friday morning.
Citing high avalanche risks and frequent heavy snow after five days of rescue efforts, the sheriff’s office said they have not located the 23-year-old May and did not find any clues to his whereabouts. The search was suspended today and when it resumes will become more of a “recovery effort.”
Placer County Sheriff’s personnel, Sugar Bowl representatives and chaplains met with the May family on Tuesday with the decision.
“It is with regret that we must suspend the efforts to locate Carson,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release. “While there will be no active search, should new information become available and environmental conditions allow, additional follow-up searches may occur.”
May, who is from Davis, Calif., was last seen Thursday wearing a blue Columbia jacket, bright green ski pants and a blue helmet. The rescue crews were initially focused on searching the backside of Sugar Bowl, where the ski instructor with Sugar Bowl’s Mountain Sports Learning Center ski school was last seen Thursday afternoon when he was off-duty and skiing at the resort.
“Tragically the hard work and determination of hundreds of search and rescue professionals and volunteers has not resulted in finding Carson,” Sugar Bowl Ski Resort said in a statement. “Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers go to the May family, who have been dealing with the unthinkable these past five days. The May family and Sugar Bowl will work together moving forward to try to find some sense of closure.”
Heavy snow and limited visibility kept rescue crews at their command center for nearly two hours this morning before taking up the search for May. While the snow let up, they had to later contend with wind gusting up to 50 mph.
“They are wet and cold – these are miserable conditions,” said Placer County Sheriff Sgt. Dave Hunt. “It really does hinder search operations.”
May was last seen by his younger brother when they were skiing Thursday afternoon. Searchers were given an idea of where he might be from his brother, who said Carson was headed to his locker and likely took a backcountry route to get there. Rescue crews also received a signal from May’s phone, further indicating his backcountry location.
After learning that information on their first day, “we’ve found no clues as to his whereabouts,” said Hunt, who likened the effort to looking for a needle in a haystack.
Jeffrey Weidel can be reached at skiweidel@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @jeffweidel and visit his website at www.tahoeskiworld.com.
