Miraculous rescue: iPhone SOS alert saves skiers stranded without cell service
Two of the skiers had fallen some 500 feet, with one sustaining a broken leg and the other sustaining a broken wrist and an injured knee.
Three skiers were rescued near Stevens Pass, Washington, on Jan. 22, after two of the skiers were injured from a fall. An Apple Watch SOS alert contributed to the rescue operation.
Three backcountry skiers were miraculously rescued near Washington state's Steven's Pass last week, thanks to an SOS alert sent from an iOS device despite the lack of cellular service.
On Jan. 22, the Chelan County Sheriff's Office received an Apple iOS SOS alert from a backcountry skier near Steven's Pass. The only information provided was that a male skier had fallen approximately 1,000 feet and sustained a leg injury. Newer iPhones and Apple Watches can connect directly to satellites for emergency communications even when users are out of cell service range.
The sheriff's office requested assistance from King County Sheriff's Office Air Support, and a helicopter crew responded to the scene just after sunset.
(Photo credit: King County Sheriff Air Support)
A video shared by King County Sheriff Air Support shows the Guardian 1 helicopter crew arriving to find three skiers waving them down. The Guardian 2 helicopter crew lowered a rescuer to the skiers' location to prepare them to be hoisted to safety.
"They were down at the base of some really steep terrain, near some pretty tall trees," King County Sheriff's Office Deputy Pilot Tony Mullinax, told ABC News. "It was really, really dark where we were going."
Two of the skiers had fallen some 500 feet, with one sustaining a broken leg and the other sustaining a broken wrist and an injured knee. The third skier was uninjured.
"They're all hurting, but they're all going to be just fine," Deputy Mike McLeod of the Chelan County Sheriff's Office told the outlet. "It'll just take some time."
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