Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Samantha Hayes ReportingSouthern Utah has not had a lot of snow until now. The latest storm may have been unfortunate timing for a college freshman lost in the mountains west of Brian Head.
Weather conditions prevented search crews from looking for him until this morning. His roommates at Southern Utah University say this is not unlike Nelson to go off alone, but this time they are really worried.
If everything had gone as planned, 22-year old Levi Nelson would have been in Cedar City to enjoy the moment when the sun finally broke through. But search crews believe he is somewhere up on the mountain where the snow just won't quit.
Charlie Morris, Iron County Search and Rescue: "It's bad at best."
Nelson was backcountry skiing. Searchers don't know his exact course.
Ben Heaton, Search and Rescue: "To be honest, it's going to be tricky. Different drainages, no clear shot. We'll see what we come up with."
Charlie Morris: "We hope he has survival skills."
Roommates say Nelson skipped class Monday and went backcountry skiing alone. He missed an activity that evening.
Jared Decker, Roommate: "On a voicemail he said, ‘I'm skiing down this peak and if I'm not back at 9:00, just drive up to Cedar Road and see if I'm along the road.'"
From what they can tell, Nelson skied over the Cedar Breaks area into Cedar Canyon and was planning to meet his friends on State Road 14.
Jared Decker: "It was snowing so hard and so cold, our little car couldn't go much farther."
Scott Knowles, Roommate: "I'm really worried about it."
He is a young man who loves adventures, his roommates have known that for a while.
Adam Spafford, Roommate: "He's a wanderer."
Jared Decker, Roommate: "He's very spontaneous. Last summer he took off to Mexico. If anybody could do it, he could."
A first aid kit was found in Nelson's room so his friends hope he took some things with him. Searchers will look for him again tomorrow morning.
