In 1976, a 12-year-old boy named Lance Sevison went missing in a storm on the backside of Northstar ski area, near Truckee, California. With no organized search team set up at that time, a scattering of phone calls led to a handful of skiers willing to venture out in search of the boy. It took several days and by then, it was too late: Lance didn’t survive.
Lance’s father, Larry Sevison, knew he could not let such a tragedy befall anyone else. So, together with his friend Doug Read, they started Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue (TNSAR), a volunteer organization in the North Lake Tahoe and Truckee area that works with local sheriff’s departments to conduct dozens of rescues in the backcountry each year. Many of those early volunteers are still active with the organization today.