A Chelan County deputy is being lauded for his role in the rescue of three backcountry skiers.

The trio was rescued last Wednesday near Stevens Pass after an SOS iPhone alert reached authorities - despite the skiers being well out of cell phone range.

The rescue, which was captured on camera in arrestingly vivid detail, involved the skiers being hoisted to safe ground by King County Sheriff Air Support. Unfortunately, two of the three sustained broken bones after plunging some 500 feet.

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Deputy Mike McLeod, a veteran of the Chelan County Sheriff's Office, was pivotal to the effort. In an interview with Good Morning America, he confirmed that the skiers were treated for injuries at a Seattle hospital. They are expected to recover.

"They're all hurting," McLeod told the long-running ABC program, "but they're all going to be just fine."

The responsiveness and ingenuity of newer model iPhones, which are compatible with satellites in times of emergency, were reportedly critical in saving the skiers' lives.

"Without some sort of satellite communication device," said King County's Sgt. Jason Stanley, "this story could have a very different ending, a very tragic ending because of the temperatures that the skiers were skiing in and the distance they were away from any kind of civilization."

Back home, McLeod's colleagues are pragmatic about the role of interagency cooperation.

"This is a great example of why strong relationships and partnerships between law enforcement agencies are so important," the Sheriff's Office writes on Facebook. "We continue to serve our communities with the most highly qualified personnel, utilizing the resources entrusted to us."

We await further comment from the Sheriff's Office.

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