Fifty-one hours after she left the Sugar Bowl ski area boundary, Sara Allis

Norvill of Danville was found alive and ambulatory Monday by local search and

rescue volunteers. “About 1 p.m. we heard they had found footprints,” Norvill’s

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sister Carrie said. “About 10 minutes later they called us all together to tell

us they’d found her and that she was alive. I feel such incredible happiness.”

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Norvill was found at 1:05 p.m. Monday in the Onion Creek drainage which runs

between Mount Lincoln and Mount Disney. She said she survived by eating snow and

thinking of loved ones. She even composed a good-bye letter to her fiance and

family using an eyeliner pencil and a scrap of paper. “I ate snow and screamed,”

Norvill said. “It was a long night. I hung out at the snow cave and screamed.”

Norvill was last seen by her skiing companion at about 10:45 a.m. Saturday when

the two friends decided to ski different routes to the base lodge where they

would meet for lunch, Placer County Sheriff’s Sergeant Jeffrey A. Granum said.

Shortly before 5 p.m., Norvill’s friend reported to Sugar Bowl ski patrol that

Norvill was missing. After ski resort employees completed a thorough in-bounds

search, they contacted the PCSO and the Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue teams. By

Sunday morning, additional assistance was requested from the California Office of

Emergency Services, the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office and the Eldorado County

Sheriff’s Office. Fixed-wing and helicopter aircraft assistance was also launched

several times, Granum said, but was repeatedly cancelled due to hazardous weather

conditions. Dogs, snowcats, snow mobiles, cross-country skiers, snowshoers and a

division of the United States Marine Corps were deployed to assist in the search.

Granum said the cost of the extensive search will take time to calculate due to

the numerous agencies and resources utilized. Unwilling to estimate the cost of

the search, Granum said merely that he thinks “It’ll be a lot.”

“California state law allows the county where the incident occurred to bill the

county in which the individual resides,” Granum said. “This county will be

entirely reimbursed for this expense.” Tony Bochene of the Tahoe Nordic Search

and Rescue Team also participated in the search and offered advice on preventing

such incidents. “Don’t ski alone,” Bochene said. “If you must ski alone, let

someone know where you’re going and when you’ll be back. If nothing else, leave a

note on your car stating where you’ve gone and when you expect to be back.” If an

individual does become lost, Bochene said, he should prepare to remain where he

is until found by rescuers. Such preparations should include carving out a hole

in a tree well or sheltered snow drift and marking the area above the tree well

with a brightly colored article of clothing or crossed skis. Norvill said she

found a tree well which she lined with pine boughs and needles before settling in

for the night on Saturday and again on Sunday. As suggested by Bochene, she

marked the tree well above-ground with her crossed skis, a symbol which is

recognized internationally as a sign of a skier in distress. However, Norvill

chose to try to hike from her sheltered tree well during the two days she was

stranded. “We would have found her the first night if she had just stayed still,”

Bochene said. At least one person should be grateful that the search was still

under way Sunday. On Sunday, while participating in the search for Norvill, a

snowmobile rider happened upon a lone snowboarder in an area outside summit ski

resort boundaries, Granum said. The snowboarder reported having been lost since

two days prior and was relieved to receive assistance from the snowmobiler in

leaving the backcountry. Granum said the lone snowboarder had not been reported

missing because he had not informed anyone of his plans Friday. The name of the

snowboarder has not been released.