At about 11:00 AM, on Friday, December 20, Richard Navarro and friend were snowboarding on the
summit chair at Alpine Meadows.  They planned to go to the Scott chair for their next run. They
got off the top of the lift, and within a minute Richard was gone.  His friend waited for him,
then went to the Scott chair and rode there for some time expecting to reunite. When the resort
closed at 4:00 pm, Richard had not returned to the car, and was reported missing.

It had been snowing off and on since Saturday, dropping four feet of new snow at 6200’. It snowed 
all day Friday, with strong (50 mph +/-) winds over the ridges.

TNSAR was paged by Placer County Sheriff at 5:40 PM. We called out a search for all A Skiers to 
stage at the Alpine Meadows ski patrol office.  Based on the information from the reporting party, 
it was likely that Richard turned down the closed access road to the Wolverine Saddle and then 
turned left (West) into the Granite Chief Wilderness. We decided to split into three teams, taking 
North, Center, and South lines into the 5-Lakes Creek basin.  We loaded 7 skiers onto an Alpine 
grooming machine at 7:45 PM, and made the half hour ride to the top. Team 4 was stationed at the 
top in reserve.

At the top of Summit chair (Ward Peak) it was snowing, with strong winds from the South West.. 
Visibility was limited to about 15’.  The top 100 vertical feet on the windward side was blown off 
to the rocks, with ice and old snow between.  Once the teams descended below that band the wind 
died down and the snow conditions improved.  At about 9:15 pm, team 2 (Jeff and Paul) reported 
tracks at Big Springs, wandering in the meadows, but ultimately heading up stream on the East side 
of 5-Lakes Creek. Team 1 (Joe and Jonathan) soon joined up. Team 3 (Bill, Tony, and Steve) was 
further South and turned to follow. After 2.5 hours of difficult tracking (the trail was blown in, 
numerous loops and dead ends, and 4’ of new snow) teams 2 and 3 found Richard sitting under a tree 
just down from Whiskey Creek Camp at 11:40 PM. He was exhausted after post-holing for 3 miles and 
mildly hypothermic (moderate shivering, coherent).

After a brief assessment, Richard’s upper wicking and insulating layers were changed, and he was 
given dry gloves and hat.  Fed candy and energy bars, hot tea, and water.  He was then strapped 
into snowshoes and started hiking.  Due to the weather, a helicopter was not an option, and the 
forecast for Saturday was more of the same. The rough terrain and heavy woods ruled out snow 
machines.  We agreed to climb out past 5-lakes and on up to the KT Saddle at Squaw Valley. The 
command post transmitted the UTM coordinates for the Saddle and we punched them into a GPS. We only 

had 2 miles to cover, a 1000 foot vertical gain, and  trail-breaking through deep new snow. 
Rotating trail breaking duty and without stopping once it took three hours to make the saddle.

Using the GPS for navigation, we came out right on target where a grooming machine from Squaw was 
waiting.  Richard climbed into the machine, with Jonathan as an escort, and the rest of us skied 
down to the base of Squaw.  There were rides waiting back to Alpine (thanks Mike and Mark), where 
we were treated to cold pizza. Drove home, took a hot shower, and in bed by 6:00 AM.