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Snowmobiler finds family of five stuck in frozen wilderness
- winrid 7y agoWhen I broke my talus (ankle bone) in the middle of the snowy forest I couldn't walk. I hadn't seen anyone all day and thought I was screwed. Then a few minutes later a guy shows up on a snowmobile. I guess angels ride snowmobiles.
- gonzo 7y agoI think you mean angels.
- RickJWagner 7y agoYeah. Angles drive those Tesla pickups, it's the only vehicle they can fit in.
- dang 7y agoWe've fixed the typo in the GP.
- heeen2 7y agoCould have ended badly like this grim incident that was linked here before https://www.otherhand.org/home-page/search-and-rescue/the-hunt-for-the-death-valley-germans/ https://www.otherhand.org/home-page/search-and-rescue/the-hu...
- graton 7y agoLeaving the car was probably not a good idea. The ones who left the car were lucky to be found alive. I still remember this story where the husband left the car to find help. https://www.oregonlive.com/oregonianextra/2007/11/kimfamily.html https://www.oregonlive.com/oregonianextra/2007/11/kimfamily.... It is possible to survive a pretty long time in a car as it provides the shelter you need. From the article: The Kim family -- parents James and Kati and children Penelope, 4, and Sabine, 7 months -- disappeared Nov. 25, 2006 as they drove to Gold Beach from Merlin, just north of Grants Pass off Interstate 5. Kati Kim, 30, and her daughters were found Dec. 4 with the car after being stuck in the snow for nine days with few supplies. James Kim, 35, was found dead two days later in a creek. He had walked more than 16 miles in the cold and snow in a futile effort to get help.
- astrodust 7y agoThey always find the car first, especially if it's going to be visible from the air. There's just too many stories of people who decided to leave just before the car was found, and then they were found dead some short distance away due to under-estimating how hard it would be to travel.
- mjevans 7y agoThat's the key for S&R, make it easy to spot from the air, and know it's NEW stuff rather than old. Stay near the car, make obvious signs pointing to the car.
- tzs 7y agoOn the other hand, there was Jerry William McDonald who got stranded a few years after the Kim family, also in Oregon [1]. He did stay with the car, and died of starvation and/or hypothermia after 70 days in the car. At some point trying to walk out, as bad as that is, gives you a better overall chance of surviving than waiting for rescue. The trick is figuring out when that is. I've heard of only one incident where the stranded people had no trouble with making that decision. They were stranded in a well stocked RV, in a place they knew they were very likely to be found except by a search party specifically looking for them. They had satellite radio and TV, and so were able to watch the news reports about the search, and see when the search was called off, and so it was now either walk out or try to survive the entire winter there. They successfully had someone walk out. [1] https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2011/05/man_found_dead_in_truck_after_getting_stuck_in_snow_spending_nearly_70_days_in_remote_linn_county.html https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2011/05/ma...
- Ididntdothis 7y agoStories like this make me think that the money I am spending on my Garmin Inreach is maybe not a waste.
- williamstein 7y agoI also have a Garmin InReach and it is a littel 3 ounce game changer, regarding being safe in remote areas of wilderness. I very recently spent four hard days in deep wet snow in the Glacier Peak Wilderness, and was able to communicate that I was safe to my family over the InReach, plus get regularly updated high quality weather reports. The battery also did fine. I was confident I could get help if I was out there longer. The Garmin Fenix 6x GPS watch is also a life saving piece of tech, since it's so rugged, the battery lasts long and it has maps of everywhere built in.
- ghaff 7y agoAs I wrote on another thread recently, I come from a time when "send help" communications weren't the norm and I resist a bit the notion that you--either as an individual or a group leader--are under a moral obligation to make such communications abilities the norm to the degree possible. That said. I'd probably get an InReach these days if I were going to spend significant time in remote areas. Leaving your plans with people was always a bit of a tricky exercise. You haven't checked in by a specific time. Now what? Go to the trailhead if that's even practical? Call in SAR? Give them another few hours/a day?
- tialaramex 7y agoYou aren't under a moral obligation? It's just that you might die and most people are willing to compromise pretty hard on principles to get rescued instead of dying. I can see a principled stance of getting a PLB and knowing you'll activate it if you believe you'll likely die or be seriously injured without rescue, otherwise it's just a ballast you're carrying. But just foregoing one altogether seems like a very strange place to draw the line.
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- almost_usual 7y agoDon’t drive in the snow without a winch.
- war1025 7y agoGetting downvoted, but honestly not a bad piece of advice. There have been a couple occasions where a winch would have been a lot more convenient for getting me out of the snow than digging with a shovel was. Don't think I'll go out and buy one. But if I was planning to go somewhere actually remote, I would seriously consider it.
- protomyth 7y agoWhen my Dad worked for Pacific Bell, they had to fix a line up a mountain road during a storm[1]. They used a winch to pull them up the road for the final couple of miles. They also used it to make sure they didn't get lost on the way back to the truck. 1) Dad had a .... colorful description of the events and people that lead to this ill advised decision. I am truly saddened that I did not inherit his mastery of the invective.
- s0rce 7y agoI'd probably start with good snow tires, 12V compressor so you can air down, traction boards a shovel. Winches are expensive and need to be mounted to your truck or to a hitch receiver. Better advice in this case was to drive on the highway.
- war1025 7y agoThis is the type of winch that came to mind for me. [1] Basically something you can attach to your tow hook and then around a tree or pole or whatever else to inch your way out of a jam. Which isn't to say that the things you listed aren't also worth having along. [1] https://www.harborfreight.com/1200-lb-capacity-cable-puller-30131.html https://www.harborfreight.com/1200-lb-capacity-cable-puller-...
- s0rce 7y agoOh, a come along, makes sense. I thought you meant a dedicated 12V winch, ex. Warn.
- slac 7y agoCalgary to Toronto is a no brainer. Every Canadian learns about the TransCanada highway. I seriously wonder about their claims.
- moltar 7y agoExactly what I was thinking. How can you get lost on a such an easy road? They were 60km off the main road. That didn’t give them any clues? Like worsening road condition. A road between two major cities of mud and ice? That’s just kinda common sense.
- crooked-v 7y agoI'm reminded of the woman who kept driving for 810 miles, complete with sleeping overnight in her car, for what was supposed to be a 90-mile trip to a neighboring city. https://www.cnet.com/news/gps-sends-belgian-woman-to-croatia-810-miles-out-of-her-way/ https://www.cnet.com/news/gps-sends-belgian-woman-to-croatia...
- refurb 7y agoI had the same thought. If they were starting out in Manitoba, I could see them getting lost getting to highway 1. But starting in Calgary? You get on the freeway and stay on it the whole way.
- Mikeb85 7y agoDrivers in Calgary can't even figure out which direction to go on one-way streets.
- CosmicShadow 7y agoEveryone but people in Southwestern Ontario that is!
- pacerwpg 7y agoThe shortest route is going through the US south of the Lake Michigan, but this still doesn't explain how they ended up in Southeast Manitoba, and especially off of Highway 12. Also important to know that Google Maps sometimes draws roads where there aren't actual roads - there are trails that are marked like they are roads in a few places that I know about and I've attempted to get Google to correct them because a) it's private property and b) it's not safe to travel there in the winter.
- Mikeb85 7y agoHow did they not have warm clothing? It was -30 degrees in Calgary last week. Like all week. And how do you wind up so far off the Trans Canada? Then again, drivers in Calgary are the worst..
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- AtlasLion 7y agothis is why I am happy I got to do some bush craft holidays. The family had shelter and by the looks of it, lots of trees to start a fire for warmth.
- ttul 7y agoI didn’t get a chance to read the article because there is a malicious ad being served from the CBC website that re-directed me to a fake SHAW Cable web site.
- TrueGeek 7y agoSame here. How in the world do they let these ads through!
- na85 7y agoSerious question: Why on earth would you not use an ad blocker?
- alephnan 7y agoCause I’m on my phone
- eftokay83 7y agoDepending on the phone (works on Android): Firefox and ublock
- james-skemp 7y agoThere's also Brave. I've taken to using it for my news browsing on my Android device.
- protomyth 7y agoNever leave the car unless you put it in the river or lake. Buy some emergency blankets like the Coghlans 8235[1]. These things are small, cheap, and work. Buy a bunch, they are little bigger than a pack of cards. Have an actual emergency kit in your car. If you are in the north a lot, then make sure to have some kind of food in the car. Also, the modern rechargeable electric lantern is a great thing. Do not run the car unless the exhaust is clear. When the wind dies down, put one of those blankets on the roof[2] (use you favorite method to attach (e.g. bungee cords)). Also, a grain shovel works a whole lot better than most snow shovels. 1) https://www.walmart.com/ip/Coghlans-8235-Emergency-Blanket/23543585 https://www.walmart.com/ip/Coghlans-8235-Emergency-Blanket/2... 2) those blankets are super reflective and will get noticed
- duxup 7y agoOn top of that advice, when I travel in winter, I just throw boots (with good socks) and extra winter stuff in a bin (gloves, scarfs etc). Basically it is "what would I put on if I were to go outside and dig my car out and it was ultra cold"...and what would I put on the kids ... everyone's stuff just gets thrown in. Just throwing it all in a bin is handy for quick packing, and if I don't need it quick unpacking. That's on top of the usual emergency kit, blankets, etc.
- john666 7y agoLet me guess, they are from India.
- john666 7y agoLet me guess, they are form India.
- duxup 7y agoGenerally speaking the route to a major city is usually pretty much to head to a big main road and follow that. I know these things happen but I have to wonder when they noticed a lack of other traffic, smaller roads, strange roads, on their way to a big city.
- notatoad 7y agoEspecially in Canada. The directions are basically to get on the highway, and stay on it for 1000km
- CosmicShadow 7y agoIn this case, it's actually 3000km on Highway 1, that's it, the main highway in Canada and pretty much the only real highway to get anywhere across Saskatchewan to South Western Ontario. They would have no reason to leave this highway unless maybe they wanted to take the shorter route through the states, but I have no clue how they could have ended up where they were in the middle of nowhere not even on a road. Glad they were ok, but jeez, common sense or look at a map at least once.
- dehrmann 7y agoWith a million or so trips between major Canadian cities during the winter, a few of them doing something silly is almost expected.
- ggcdn 7y agoHaving driven through northern BC quite a bit, there’s been dozens of times where a rockslide / logging truck rollover / construction has caused a detour off the highway and down some remote roads. Not saying that’s what happened to them, but rather that it’s best to be prepared because you never know what will happen.
- CosmicShadow 7y agoHaha yeah, makes sense over there, but they were in the prairies, the flatest area in Canada! I guess the highway could have got blocked somehow and you have to take a backroad detour, but you'd probably be following a stream of traffic as well in that case. Always agree it's best to look at a map to get a feel for the route or at least have one ready.
- s0rce 7y agoMaybe trying to take a detour like these guys (https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-01-07-mn-949-story.html https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-01-07-mn-949-st...) Ended up making a movie about that family. I think back in that situation the highway was closed due to snow.
- cdoxsey 7y agoCheck out the 2010 movie frozen about skiers getting stuck on a lift. Not the best movie, but I love this idea of just how close we live to total disaster... And all it takes is a few small missteps. We think we have a lot more control over our lives than we really do.
- honkycat 7y agoI'm willing to bet these people were following automated directions. My family and I were once driving from Chicago to my home town 6 hours to the southwest. A blizzard kicked up, and we were driving according to Google directions. It took us off of the main roads, and we found ourselves on unpopulated gravel roads in the middle of nowhere Illinois totally FUCKED of we had crashed. I've seen it over and over again. You trying to get somewhere. There are clear normal routes to that place. And then Google directions start to direct you to these fucking country roads to try and finesse some kind of "faster route" for you without even prompting you for a route change. It just directs you into some dumb fuck route that no one would ever take in the right mind. I've learned to watch Google directions like a hawk. I was once driving up from downstate, and it started to take us off the main road. I told my friend to stop and turn around, get back on the main highway. If we had taken the route Google recommended, we would have gone hours out of our way on gravel country roads to get around a bit of minor traffic on the main road.
- carlivar 7y agoWhy did you obey Google and turn off the main roads?
- adrianmonk 7y agoSeems like Google (etc.) could add a "avoid roads that aren't well-traveled" feature with the data they already have. The data they use to figure out whether traffic is light or heavy (GPS location, speed, heading, path, etc.) could also be used to figure out whether roads are well-traveled. And they could even throw in month or season (or weather) as a variable. If the road is well-traveled in the summer but not in the winter, maybe there's a reason. This could be useful not only for winter but also for other issues like people who are driving an unreliable car or are low on gas (or not good about filling it up).
- nitrogen 7y agoDuring the last major fire season in California the traffic was incredibly slow on the main interstate I was on. Maps suggested a detour on a side highway because nobody was taking it. But it turned out that nobody was taking it because it was literally on fire, so I had to find my way back to the interstate.
- Zhenya 7y agoThis reminds me of one of the best reads on the internet: The Hunt for the Death Valley Germans https://www.otherhand.org/home-page/search-and-rescue/the-hunt-for-the-death-valley-germans/ https://www.otherhand.org/home-page/search-and-rescue/the-hu... The OP story however, has a much happier ending.
- nemo1618 7y agoReminds me of a family that got lost while crossing the Sahara: https://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/unbound/bookauth/sahara/tamanras.htm https://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/unbound/bookauth/sahar...
- james-skemp 7y agoThank you for the very long, interesting, Sunday read. I was instantly captured by the retelling, and it reminds me of all the truly uncharted areas in the world.