CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Maine — A skier at Sugarloaf is lucky to have been unhurt — and maybe lucky to be alive — after hanging upside down in a tree well for 45 minutes over the weekend.
The resort's ski patrol posted photos of rescuers digging a man out of the tree well. He had just started his run on a double black diamond trail when he stopped, lost his balance, and fell head-first into the hole.
Tree wells are pockets of airy snow that can look like the packed snow next to it, according to assistant Sugarloaf ski patrol director Roddy Ehrlenbach.
"His skis were caught by the tree, which really wasn't that tall. It was just like a a 6-to-8-foot red spruce, and maybe only 18 inches or 2 feet of it was above the snow," Ehrlenbach explained. "So, the concern was the cavity created by the tree."
Sugarloaf told NEWS CENTER Maine that what happened to the skier is extremely rare at that resort — or anywhere else on the East Coast.
Sugarloaf ski patrol said it encourages skiers to always have a buddy and a charged cell phone that you can reach even if you get buried.