Just hours before the slides took P.V. and A.F. for a ride, another avalanche came down in the same area. Whitewater's snow safety supervisor Mark Austin was not surprised that his patrols were activated for a rescue Friday. This was the first avalanche rescue at the hill this year. But it is the fifth time this season that Whitewater patrol have had to venture into the back country to bring out injured people. With two months left in the season, Austin expects he will have to dispatch his team at least a few more times - even though his jurisdiction ends at the ropes.
Whitewater is under no obligation to rescue people in the back country.
People are thinking they can go do crazy things in the back country because there are patrollers on the hill that will come and get them. But there is going to be a day that we can't go and there will be consequences. As for A.F., over the weekend doctors inserted dozens of pin into his bones in an effort to reconstruct his legs. He will be off skis for the rest of the season and may not be able to make turns until his rehabilitation is complete in early 2001. When he is able to get back into the powder, however, A.F. said he will be back out there.