Skier found unconscious in tree well

A 16-year-old skier was transported from Whitefish Mountain Resort to Kalispell Regional Medical Center on Wednesday morning after he was found unconscious in a tree well. The boy was found close to the T-bar 2 lift line near the summit of the mountain, according to resort spokesman Donnie Clapp.

Two skiers stopped when they saw a pair of skis sticking out of the snow and began digging the boy out. A licensed nurse who was skiing in the area then stopped to help and started administering CPR. A resort ski patroller arrived on scene and utilized an Automated External Defibrillator. The victim was unresponsive throughout the rescue effort.

Additional patrollers had a difficult time getting to the scene on snowmobile due to deep snow drifts. The victim was transported on a rescue toboggan to the resort's medical clinic, operated by North Valley Hospital, at the base of the mountain. There, a medic was able to find a faint pulse on the victim. Big Mountain Fire Department transported the boy to KRMC where personnel administered slow-warming therapy, which is often used to treat hypothermia. The boy remains in critical condition.

It’s unclear if the victim was skiing alone at the time of the accident, how he fell into the tree well or how long he was there. Blizzard conditions were present on the mountain at the time, including heavy snow, strong wind and freezing temperatures. The victim is a season-pass holder and foreign echange student living with a family in Columbia Falls.