A pair of unattended skis were discovered near a cornice at the top of Bald Mountain in Colorado, sparking an investigation and search when discovered by another backcountry skier.
According to the Summit County Sheriff’s Office, the skis were left fully equipped with skins and positioned as if someone was about to step into them. Nobody was around and foot tracks were visible leading away but not back to the gear.
Windblown snow had partially covered the skis, appearing as though they had been left there for a few days, and a sticker on the skis lead deputies to contact multiple local ski shops. As no useful information was gathered, a search and rescue team was requested to look for someone who might have fallen off the cornice. While the Search and Rescue team was preparing for the search, deputies called a ski shop in Denver identified by the sticker. The shop had not sold or rented the found skis.
By truly remarkable coincidence, the person who picked up the phone had apparently met a man earlier in the week while selling a sleeping bag on Facebook Marketplace. The man, revealing that he was a relatively inexperienced backcountry skier, mentioned that he had removed his skis to look at something while up on Bald Mountain and was unable to find them again. After searching for a long time, the man walked down the mountain back to his car, leaving the skis behind.
The search team was canceled with the new information revealed.
