Snowboarder Featured in Avalanche Video in Hot Water With Ski Resort
Lake Tahoe's Sugar Bowl Resort said area was "clearly marked as closed."
— -- A snowboarder who recently survived an avalanche at Lake Tahoe's Sugar Bowl Resort in California is now facing some heat from the resort where the incident happened, which is accusing him of putting others in danger by venturing onto an area "clearly marked as closed."
The snowboarder, identified in a video posted to YouTube as Christian Michael Mares, was reportedly hitting the slopes with friends Friday afternoon when the snow suddenly shifted seconds into one of his runs.
In an expletive-laden and terrifying video, the GoPro camera atop his helmet captured him being pushed and buried by the snow. In the video, he could be seen starting to tumble down the slope as his friends call out: "Christian!"
Mares eventually found himself waist deep in snow but was able to get out.
"I'm done," he said to the camera after the snow had stopped.
"Are you OK? Is everything like, feel anything?" one friend asked after Mares' buddies were able to make their way to him. "You f****** snapped your board."
Mares said that he had injured his ankle.
In a statement posted on its website, Sugar Bowl Resort said that it was working with the Placer County Sheriff's Department to take action against Mares.
Sugar Bowl Resort said that Mares' snowboarding had "triggered" the avalanche after entering an area "which has not been open to the public since the 2010/11 ski season."
The resort said that the area was "clearly marked as closed" and was also a "very active avalanche area."
"As such, Mares put himself, ski patrol and the skiing public at risk," the resort said.
Mares told ABC News today that he did not know that the area was closed.
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