Search for Missing Crystal Skier to Resume Thursday

The search for a missing Lakewood skier was suspended at nightfall tonight and will resume Thursday morning, nearly two days after the man was reported missing at Crystal Mountain Resort.

Resort officials identified the man as Paul Melby, 40, an experienced skier and a regular at the resort. 

Melby's friends and family waited for news at Crystal's ski patrol office while about 30 to 40 ski patrol members, friends and volunteers searched the area today. He was last seen by a staffer getting off the High Campbell lift Tuesday. Melby was skiing alone, but he knew people at the resort, and they reported him missing when they noticed his car in the parking lot after the lifts closed at about 4 p.m., said Crystal's director of sales and marketing, Tiana Enger.

Larry Stemp, whose son David is Melby's best friend, said both had been skiing together since they were six years old. "[Melby] knows this mountain like nobody else," Stemp said. 

Melby is a big man, Stemp said. He's six feet, seven inches tall, "skinny as a rail and tall as a log."

He had previously served on ski patrol at Crystal, Stemp said.

Son David was part of the search party today. "He's absolutely the most stubborn person I know," he said. "I know he's not going to give up, and we won't quit on him."

Melby's mother, Bonny, expressed similar belief in her son's strength. "Paul has been skiing here for 35 years," she said. "He worked ski patrol, he pushed snow, he worked with [avalanche] dynamite. He's done a lot of things and has a lot of survival basic training experience and knowledge ... I think he's going to be fine."

Ski patrol members searched for him until 11 p.m. Tuesday before resuming this morning. Pierce County Search & Rescue has been notified, and a representative with the Pierce County Sheriff's Office is assisting with the search. 

Today, searchers checked out areas around the bases of trees, in case Melby got caught in a tree well, Enger said. Searchers began in the area close to the High Campbell chairlift and worked towards Northway into the afternoon, she said.

The weather was blustery but clear this afternoon, giving good visibility for the search. The wind prevented staff from manually clearing some of the area they wanted to search in the morning. There was an avalanche warning in the area today, but Crystal controls its ski area, so it didn’t apply there. There was no evidence of a snow slide.

Temperatures are expected to drop to 15 degrees tonight, according to the National Weather Service. A southwest wind between 11 and 15 mph is forecasted, with total nighttime snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible. 

The search is set to resume at 8 a.m. Thursday. Volunteers, expert skiers who know the terrain and want to help should report to the ski patrol office then.

The need for volunteers was emphasized by family friend Jeff Mehlert. "Help us get the word out that we need help," he said.

More on Tree Wells and Deep Snow

Excerpted from "Tree Well & Deep Snow Safety Info," a pamphlet put together by the Pacific Northwest Ski Areas Association.

A deep snow or tree well accident occurs when a rider or skier falls into an area of deep unconsolidated snow and becomes immobilized. The more the person struggles the more entrapped in the snow they become.

The odds of surviving a deep snow immersion are low, especially if you are not with a partner. In two experiments conducted in the U.S. and Canada in which volunteers were temporarily placed in a tree well, 90 percent could not rescue themselves.

For more information, please visit www.treewelldeepsnowsafety.com.