The ski/snowboard season has begun. And with great snow conditions comes numerous mountain incidents.

Yesterday I got the call to respond to one in the chalet shortly after I punched in. Standing at guest services he was complaining of tingling fingers. Thinking to myself, 'this guy called first aid because his fingers are warming up?', I asked him how long he had been cold. He answered, "yesterday".

It was the first run of the season, 1pm on Sunday, when he dropped into the backcountry to get some fresh tracks. The trees were tight and he quickly got disoriented. Deciding he might be close to the parking lot, he walked downhill following a creek through chest high powder but as the cold and night set in, he very wisely decided to a) abandon his downhill trek and follow his tracks back to where he originally dropped in and b) never stop moving.
26 hours later he on had dry blankets, heat pads upper his arm and was lucky to be recounting the evening to us in between chattering teeth. If he had delayed a couple of hours he would've found himself in the dark again, but this time facing -15 degrees C temperatures in his wet clothing.
The scariest part was that no one had alerted the search team.