Authorities have called off the search for an experienced skier who was reported missing at a ski hill on the Montana-Idaho border.

Ravalli County Sheriff Chris Hoffman said Friday that the amount of snow at the Lost Trail Powder Mountain ski hill made it virtually impossible to find the man after an intensive search.

The skier, 65-year-old Bart Pickard of Corvallis, was reported missing Wednesday. He was last seen Tuesday morning at the lodge of the hill south of Hamilton.

The ski patrol began looking for Pickard on Wednesday morning. Search and rescue crews and the Two Bear Air helicopter crew from Whitefish also joined the search. Authorities been in touch with Pickard's family.

Hoffman says it could be spring before crews recover Pickard's body, unless someone finds his equipment sooner.

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