Lundberg Mending After Harrowing Ski Trip

Note: The story below includes some changes and corrections to the originally posted version.

Chris Lundberg got some good news on Wednesday.

A doctor in Salt Lake City assured the former Carleton College all-conference track and cross country runner that his foot wouldn't need to be amputated.

Lundberg (pictured), an Edina High School graduate who moved to Jackson Hole last summer, has been hospitalized for treatment of severe frostbite since February 22, after a back-country cross country ski trip in the nearby Tetons turned harrowing.

Lundberg and a friend set off to ski a 35-40 miles loop in northern Teton National Park on February 21. They knew the trip could last well into the night, but relatively warm temperatures followed by a arctic chill -- temps dropped from 40 degrees to minus 10 -- caused a dangerious combination of conditions for the pair. Difficulty navigating in the dark also added time to the trip which ended up lasting 23 hours.

"The issue of freezing digits only became a problem over the last few miles as we reached the head of the canyon in the northern reaches of Teton National Park and then continued across Jackson Lake," Lundberg explained via e-mail from his hospital room.

"The warm temps the day before left standing water on the ice covered by snow, with air temps around -10," he coninued. "So, I was dealing with super-cold and humid air, a fatigued body, and wet feet. For the last mile we hit an old snowmachine track that we could make better time on, but elevated our feet above the snow which had helped to insulate things to some degree. It was then that I likely hit the point of no return, and the cold worked pretty fast and furious."

Lundberg's companion was not seriously injured.

After getting initial treatment by doctors in Jackson Hole, Lundberg was flown to Salt Lake City for care in a burn unit there. Lundberg initially feared he might lose his right foot. The toes on his left foot, and fingers on his left hand were also frostbitten. During his hospitalization, though, blood flow has slowly returned to his extremities.

Lundberg is scheduled to undergo skin grafting next week, but even that procedure may be cancelled, if his frostbitten skin recovers enough on its own. Lundberg is still fighting an infection in his foot, however.

Until moving west after completing his law degree at the University of Minnesota last year, Lundberg had been a fixture on the Minnesota road racing scene. He competed in the USATF-Minnesota Team Circuit for the Slab City Running Company.

Lundberg is updating people on his healing progress via a web-site -- HERE.