Snowboarder suffers critical head injury

A man in his early 20s suffered a critical head injury Sunday afternoon after snowboarding off a 150-foot drop known as International Cliff, a spot at the Alpental Ski Area that's permanently closed to skiers and boarders.

Signs are posted warning of the dangers of International Cliff, said Summit at Snoqualmie spokeswoman Emily Duplessis. "It's not skiable or rideable --- it's just rocks," she said, adding the man would've had to pass under ropes that cordon the cliff off from other ski runs to get to the area.

The man, who friends said is an experienced snowboarder, was found moments after his fall by a member of the Alpental Ski Patrol, who happened to be at the bottom of the cliff, Duplessis said. Also, two trauma doctors who are volunteer patrollers were on shift that day and were able to "perform CPR all the way down the mountain," until the man could be loaded into an ambulance and then into a helicopter that took him to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, she said.

The man is approximately 21 years-old and was at Alpental with his brother and three friends, Duplessis said. When he was found, he was unconscious from a head injury but he woke up sometime Sunday night; though he is still in critical condition, he seems to have stabilized, she said.

"We're pleased with how his condition is looking," Duplessis said. "We think he's getting better."