Two Colorado teens rescue skier using skills they learned on Eldora ski patrol
Bodhi Governson, 19, and Malachi Brooks, 17, were skiing when they saw someone hurtle past them. They were key to his survival, drawing on skills they started learning as junior ski patrollers.
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Bodhi Governson and Malachi Brooks were just two ordinary guys, not yet 20, when they set out to ski Skywalker Couloir in the Indian Peaks Wilderness on June 16.
By the end of the day, they’d be heroes for helping rescue a skier who fell at the top of a plunging descent and tomahawked more than 1,000 feet toward a rock outcropping.
Skywalker is the main couloir on the south face of South Arapaho Peak. It’s described on 14ers.com as “very difficult” with three Star Wars-themed entrances into the 2,000-foot descent that starts at 13,200 feet and pitches to 55 degrees.
Governson said the snow was slushy by the time he and Brooks dropped in. But they stopped at a 400-foot section in the middle of the couloir because the sun hadn’t hit it yet and it was still too icy to safely descend.
Read more from Tracy Ross at ColoradoSun.com
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