Photo: Jacksonholenet.com
The body of Lee Kidd, a 34-year-old employee at Grand Targhee resort on the Idaho/Wyoming border, was found yesterday after the snowboarder was missing for six days. Targhee Ski Patrol and Teton County Search and Rescue were both deployed in the search effort that continued through the Christmas Holiday and extremely difficult conditions as a storm pounded the region during that time frame.
According to the Jackson Hole News and Guide, when Kidd didn’t show up to work, his employer notified authorities, telling officials it was highly unusual for Kidd to be late, let alone miss work entirely.
Kidd had told friends that he wanted to get into the backcountry. His pass was last scanned on the resort’s Dreamcatcher lift December 23. Searchers think he left the boundary hoping to ride Steve Baugh Bowl outside the resort’s area. Kidd hiked a ridge and a cornice gave way where he’d stopped. The debris apparently carried him over a 500-foot cliff, burying him below. Special search dogs were used to find Kidd’s body during the dangerous recovery mission. Grand Targhee is technically in Wyoming but accessed from U.S. Highway 33 in Idaho.
It was a tragic week in the West. A mother was killed and her two children injured when they fell off a ski lift in Colorado and 31-year-old Adam Roberts of Bellingham, Washington died in an avalanche just outside the boundary of Whitepass Ski Area near Mt. Rainier.
