[Njagdu] Body of missing skier Carson May recovered at Sugar Bowl resort

[Ginger Kutsch]

Body of missing skier Carson May recovered at Sugar Bowl resort 

Source: http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article63230582.html

 

Highlights 

Search and rescue teams found body Monday under 5 feet of snow

Sugar Bowl official said May likely perished in avalanche

Scent dogs credited with locating body

 

     The body of ski instructor Carson May, 23, was found by
search-and-rescue teams at Sugar 

Bowl Ski Resort on Monday, February 29, 2016.

By Cathy Locke and Brad Branan

 

The body of 23-year-old ski instructor Carson May was located Monday
afternoon by search and 

rescue teams more than six weeks after he went missing at Sugar Bowl Ski
Resort.

 

The Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue team, along with El Dorado County Search
and Rescue dog 

teams, were training at the resort. The search dogs were taken to the area
where May's 

cellphone last "pinged" in January. His body was found under 5 feet of snow,
according to the 

Placer County Sheriff's Office.

 

May, a Davis resident, was last seen Jan. 14. Despite an intensive five-day
search, searchers 

were unable to locate him at the time, and the effort was called off when
weather conditions 

grew severe.

 

Sugar Bowl's chief executive officer, Greg Dallas, said the discovery
brought a feeling of 

sad resolution to May's family and Sugar Bowl employees.

 

"It brings closure to the family, first and foremost," he said. "Carson was
one of ours, so 

it brings closure for us, too."

 

Considering that May was found under a significant amount of snow, after
weeks of warm 

weather since his disappearance, he likely perished in an avalanche, Dallas
said. His body 

was found on the back side of Mount Judah, about a quarter-mile from the
resort's boundaries.

 

May's father, Mike May, said he is glad his son was found, but the discovery
did not bring 

relief.

 

"There's no such thing as closure when you lose your son," he said. "It's an
open wound that 

will stay that way."

 

Carson May was an instructor with Sugar Bowl's Mountain Sports Learning
Center ski school, 

providing lessons to customers of varying skill levels.

 

He was last seen by his brother when they were skiing the afternoon of Jan.
14. Searchers 

were given an idea of his location by his brother, who said May was headed
to his locker and 

likely took a backcountry route to get there. The signal from May's phone
also indicated the 

backcountry route. 

 

Placer County Sheriff's Sgt. Dave Hunt, who oversaw the January search for
May, said 

searchers last month were hampered by high avalanche danger. Although
considerable snowmelt 

has since occurred, Hunt said searchers would not have located the body
Monday without the 

aid of search dogs. He said the discovery was made about 2 p.m.

 

"Our condolences go out to the family and to all the volunteers that
participated in the 

search," Hunt said.

 

Mike May said rescue workers did everything they knew to help find Carson,
but he believes 

there are better methods for finding people in snow. Mike May said he has
been researching 

different technology, some of which is used by law enforcement, and wants to
find ways of 

applying them to avalanche rescue.

 

A Davis resident, Mike May set a speed record for a blind downhill skier and
was able to 

regain sight later through a pioneering surgery. 

 

Since his son's disappearance, May also created a website,
http://www.carsonmay.org/, 

"Celebrating the life of Carson May."

 

 

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