CARRABASSETT VALLEY — A 24-year-old Massachusetts man was airlifted from Kingfield on Thursday, Jan. 1, to Lewiston after he suffered severe head injuries in a snowboarding accident at Sugarloaf.

Police Chief Scott Nichols said that Kevin Neary, of Somerville, Mass., was coming down the mountain on a snowboard trail about 10 a.m. when he lost control and landed head first. Neary was wearing a helmet, Nichols said.

High winds, which closed the mountain later in the day, prohibited a helicopter from landing in Carrabassett Valley. Police Officer Dennis Burnell escorted a NorthStar ambulance carrying Neary to Kingfield where Life Flight had landed at the Kingfield Fire Station. Neary was then transported by Life Flight to the Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston.