Anchorage doctor badly hurt in Alyeska skiing accident

Ski patrol found William Mills, 53, an Anchorage orthopedic surgeon, with severe injuries on the face's Ballroom section, said Alyeska's Sandy Chio.

Ballroom is about halfway down the North Face just below tree line.

Two skiers saw Mills on the ground and notified ski patrol, Chio said. Mills was reported to have earlier been skiing with his son, she said.

Chio said two entrances to the face were open: Chuck's Gate and Picnic Gate. Mills may have entered through Chuck's Gate, but Chio said resort staff could not speculate on which gate Mills used.

Patrollers detected a pulse on Mills and paramedics rushed him to an Anchorage hospital, Chio said.

Girdwood Fire Chief William Chadwick said an ambulance crew responded to Alyeska's lower tram terminal just before 5 p.m. Dispatchers in Anchorage said ski patrol reported a man with serious, traumatic injuries, Chadwick said. Ski patrol closed the North Face for the rescue efforts and because it was near the normal time to close the area, Chio said.

Mills' mother, Elaine Mills, confirmed her son was on life support Tuesday morning and declined to comment further until today.

Icy trail conditions have prevailed at Alyeska with almost no recent snowfall, making the North Face's already extreme 2,000 vertical feet more perilous.

Reach Casey Grove at casey.grove@adn.com or 257-4589.