SAM Magazine—Donner Summit, Calif., March 1, 2016—After going missing on Jan. 14 following an afternoon of skiing with his brother, the body of 23-year-old Sugar Bowl ski instructor Carson May was located Monday afternoon by search and rescue teams in an area about a quarter-mile beyond the resort's boundaries.

The Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue team, along with El Dorado County Search and Rescue dog teams, were training at the resort. The search dogs were taken to the area where May's cellphone last “pinged” in January. His body was found under five feet of snow, according to the Placer County Sheriff's Office.

Shortly after May was reported missing, an intensive search began, but was called off after five days due to severe weather and high avalanche danger in the area of the search. May's brother had provided an approximate location for the search, saying May was headed to his locker and likely took a backcountry route to get there. The signal from May's phone also indicated the backcountry route.

Sugar Bowl's chief executive officer Greg Dallas said the discovery brought a feeling of sad resolution to May's family and Sugar Bowl employees. “It brings closure to the family, first and foremost,” he said. “Carson was one of ours, so it brings closure for us, too.” Considering that May was found under a significant amount of snow, after weeks of warm weather since his disappearance, he likely perished in an avalanche, Dallas said.

Placer County Sheriff's Sgt. Dave Hunt, who oversaw the January search for May, said although considerable snowmelt has since occurred, searchers would not have located the body Monday without the aid of search dogs.

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