John Ryan, 31, the Erie snowboarder who was lost out of bounds from the Keystone Resort for three days last month before being rescued after a large-scale search, has been issued a summons charging him with violating the state Skier Safety Act and carrying a concealed weapon, the Summit County Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday.
Ryan is scheduled to appear in court on the charges Feb. 15.
“Mr. Ryan was found on Nov. 19, 2005, in an area known as Jones Gulch, an out-of-bounds area adjacent to Keystone Resort. The area was clearly marked ‘Closed,”‘ according to a prepared statement.
The statement offered no explanation for the weapons charge.
At the time, Ryan credited his survival on advice he got as a boy from his dad: Stay where you are if you get lost.
While snowboarding out of bounds, Ryan said, he found himself in a heavily wooded area in snow up to his waist and chest and didn’t know where the resort was.
He spent three nights in temperatures that dipped as low as 5 degrees.
Eventually, he said, “I heard some guys talking. I screamed out for them. They answered, and I knew it was going to be OK.”
