A group of field skiers were rescued from a mountain in the state of Washington, where the authorities found them and raised them to a helicopter in a dramatic night operation. At least one of the skiers had fallen 1,000 feet, and at least two were injured and could not walk, authorities said.
The images of the rescue mission last week show the teams that pilot two helicopters for the King County Sheriff’s air support team about the thick desert near Stevens Pass, an ski area in Washington’s waterfalls. A helicopter, The Guardian 1, used heat sensors to identify the group of three men who had been stranded with injuries in a steep section of the mountain full of high trees.
The Air Support Unit said that their teams launched its rescue mission just after sunset on Wednesday, January 22, at the request of the Chelar County Sheriff’s office. The office had received an Apple Watch SOS alert that indicates that a male skier fell about 1,000 feet and suffered a leg injury. Apple’s “SOS” feature allows users to transmit emergency messages through a satellite connection, so anguish calls are sent even in areas where cellular or Wi-Fi services are not available.
Once the field skiers were located in the mountain, air support learned that two of the three men were injured and could not walk. Rescue teams raised each of them from the mountain to one of their helicopters, which transported the trio to a safe place.
The Air Support Unit shared the video of the terrible experience in social networks.
“Spicy rescue on Wednesday night,” the unit subtitled an X post that includes a link to the images on YouTube. “We had limited information from a Satellite Relief call from iOS near Union Peak. We launched Guardian 1 to locate the victims and Guardian 2 to facilitate the rescue.”
The authorities did not share the names of any of the journeys involved.