Missing snowboarders found out of bounds

POWDER MOUNTAIN RESORT, Weber County — An Ogden couple had to be airlifted from a canyon near the Powder Mountain Resort after they accidentally snowboarded out of bounds Tuesday and got lost.

The husband and wife, both 44, were making their last run of the day when dense fog set in, said Weber County Sheriff's Sgt. Brandon Toll.

"They thought they were going in the same direction of the last run, and actually ended up going the wrong way," Toll said.

A Powder Mountain employee who knows the couple called search and rescue at about 12:30 a.m. when their vehicle was found in the resort parking lot, and he could not find them at home or at a cabin they have stayed at in the past.

Toll said the sheriff's snowmobile team found the pair's tracks and followed them until the terrain became too hazardous. Searchers then called in the Utah Department of Public Safety helicopter, which located the couple just below Saddle Horse Lake around 6:30 a.m. after pilots spotted a campfire the pair had started.

"They pretty much hunkered down when it got dark," Toll said. "Their plan was, 'At daylight, we'll start hiking again.'

"They were in great condition when we flew them back (to the command post)."

— Geoff Liesik