A California snowboarder accused of triggering an avalanche while filming a viral video in an off-limits area of the mountain remains unapologetic even after the search was called off for a ski instructor who has been missing since the same day.

Christian Michael Mares wore a personal video camera and several friends also recorded footage as Mares boarded down a steep run on Jan. 15 at Sugar Bowl Resort, a popular destination northwest of Lake Tahoe. Mares is seen getting buried under a cascade of snow, then marveling at his feat after fighting his way to the surface.

The “very active avalanche area” known as Perko’s has been closed to the public since 2010.

Mares right after falling in the avalanche on a snowboarding run. (Screenshot: YouTube)



“We were just trying to go find some freshies somewhere and just go have fun like we usually do,” Mares said, according to CBS News. “And then I got caught in the avalanche.”

Carson May, a 23-year-old ski instructor at Sugar Bowl, was last seen the day prior to Mares’ stunt and was reported missing that same morning. Before calling off the search this Tuesday, crews focused on the avalanche area, according to the Associated Press, which is “where May’s phone last pinged.”

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An undated photo of Sugar Bowl Resort. (Courtesy: Sugar Bowl Resort)



Mares doesn’t believe there’s any connection between the two incidents and coldly rejected the resort’s admonishments for his trespassing.

“What happened with Carson is bad publicity for them because he works for them and they cannot find him and now this happened, so they had to protect their a– in order for them not to look bad to the public,” Mares said.

Carson May, the missing ski instructor. (Photo: Placer County Sheriff’s Office via AP)



Sugar Bowl officials are pursuing criminal charges against Mares, for trespassing into a closed area of a ski resort, though the Placer County Sheriff’s Department runs the investigation.

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“They need to be aware that it’s not just, ‘Oh I can get away with this,‘” said John Monson, director of sales and marketing at Sugar Bowl. “It has much farther reaching ramifications.”

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