Friends rescue snowboarder swept away, buried in Sierra avalanche

RENO, Nev. (KTVU) - A snowboarder in the Sierra who triggered an avalanche and was buried face down in snow was rescued by a group of friends and was recovering from the ordeal Wednesday, officials said.

The U.S. Forest Service reports that nine snowboarders were riding the snow in "complex terrain with many trigger points" around noon Monday at the summit of Donner Pass, on the north side of Castle Peak.

Officials said the final rider triggered the avalanche on his decent.

That snowboarder was swept up in the avalanche and carried about 200 feet down the mountain before being buried face down in about two feet of snow, according to the Forest Service report.

His friends dug him out in about four minutes, according to the report.

He was unconscious when first uncovered, but quickly became awake and oriented, according to the report. The report did not indicate what injuries, if any, the snowboarder suffered.

No one else in the group was injured by the avalanche. 

Sierra Avalanche Center forecasters went out on Tuesday o investigate the avalanche. 

Last season, 25 people, including 14 skiers and one snowboarder, were killed by avalanches in the United States. 

Last Sunday, a backcountry skier in Colorado was caught and fully buried in an avalanche on south Diamond Peak, Cameron Pass. 

The people she was with and others in the area rescued her, but she did not survive, accoding to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.