EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. (KRNV & MyNews4.com) - Wednesday evening El Dorado County Sheriff's Department rescued an injured back country skier near Echo Peak.
Deputies tell News 4, the victim is a 36-year-old man from South Lake Tahoe. He was skiing with his dog when he suffered a right knee injury and was unable to continue on.
He called deputies for help and the California Highway Patrol Air Operations unit out of Auburn, Ca. and local California Highway Patrol Officers helped-out.
The helicopter immediately located the victim but was unable to land due to the remote location, steep terrain, deep snow and high avalanche conditions.
South Lake Tahoe CHP Officer Mark Flores was lowered from a hovering helicopter and rescued the victim and his dog.
The Sheriff's Office wanted to the quick response by CHP air and ground units, the victim was rescued without incident and avoided a very lengthy and very cold ground team rescue.
The victim was located at 8,400 feet elevation and was in deep snow making a ground rescue very difficult.
