Skier Lost Off Stowe's Toll Road Promises to Name His Baby After Rescue Team Member
We went after another lost skier off the Toll Road last night. Another case of following sweet-looking tracks without paying heed to destination or daylight hours.
Our subject endeared himself to us by
1/ His very humble ask for help “only if you’re not too busy” and his willingness to put his hand up and admit his error – following tracks late in the day and entering the sidecountry unequipped.
2/ How calm and coachable he was in those cold, dark woods – he managed to download a compass app and we mapped his location and told him how to follow a bearing so he could work on closing the distance to where we would intercept him.
3/ He promised to name his first born daughter after our team member who escorted him out of the woods. Well, that’s a first! No guarantee that he’ll follow through with it, but it’s a measure of his gratitude.
If you’ve never played with the compass app on your phone, you should pull it up and take a look. It will give your current coordinates and elevation – vital info to pass on to your rescuers. A screenshot is a good way to accurately convey that information, assuming you have cell service.
Sometimes the simplest way to capture your location in an emergency is to place a 911 call – last night we asked our subject to do exactly that as we tried to hone in on him.
Practice walking along a bearing before your safety depends on it. Be aware that your app is only available as long as you have battery. Our subject last night was hitting 15% by the time we got to him – that’s a very small margin on a cold dark night. A battery bank makes a great stocking stuffer, as does a compass…