By Associated Press - Tuesday, February 20, 2018

KALISPELL, Mont. (AP) - A search continued Tuesday for a backcountry skier reported missing near Big Mountain over the weekend.

Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry said the missing man is 62-year-old Jonathan Scott Torgerson of Columbia Falls, a physician at North Valley Hospital in Whitefish.

Torgerson was reported overdue Saturday night after skiing alone outside the boundary of Whitefish Mountain Resort just before a storm moved in, bringing strong winds and a foot (30 centimeters) of snow to the area.

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On Sunday, wind gusts up to 50 mph (80 kilometers per hour) and wind chills near minus 30 (-34 Celsius) were reported near the top of Big Mountain.

Curry says Torgerson’s family told searchers he was wearing an avalanche transceiver but they had not picked up a signal.

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