Four lost snowboarders walk out after night in the woods

[rockon]

Vyto Starinskas / Rutland Herald

Staff Report - Published: February 24, 2010

Four lost snowboarders walked out of the woods at Brewers Corner in Mendon this morning after skiing off a Killington Resort trail Tuesday afternoon.

The four were wet, but not injured after spending the night huddled around a smokey campfire they battled to keep lit throughout the night.

One member of the group had a lighter (but no safety supplies?) and they shared a single, crumbled Pop Tart among them.

The snowboarders, Chris Picarello of Stockbridge, David Capenter of Barnard, Tyler Gramling of White River Junction, and Cameron Smith of Killington, were in contact with rescue personnel by cell phone during the night.

They said they felt safer trying to stay warm by the fire in the blizzard rather than walk out in the dark.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20 ... /100229953

[KMartman]

DARWIN...

t-minus.......

M

[andyzee]

Seems to be an annual event.

[daytripper]

Seems to be an annual event.

this time it involved some locals though, not just new york/new jersey idiots

[skiadikt]

i'm actually impressed they were able to get a fire started and keep it going. didn't it snow like crazy tuesday night ...

[daytripper]

i'm actually impressed they were able to get a fire started and keep it going. didn't it snow like crazy tuesday night ...

getting it started is impressive, once you get a good bed of coals its pretty easy to keep it going.

[Clutch]

So why can't they just send a couple snowmobiles up the Bucklin trail? It shouldn't have been too hard for the snowboarders to get to the Bucklin trail or the logging road that follows Brewers Brook. Just curious, not judging.

I'm more impressed they were able to walk out in the deep snow, than to get a fire lit. Tons of white birch back there and that bark will get a fire lit fairly easily in wet conditions. As for walking out, I don't think I'd even be interested in snowshoeing back there until the snow consolidates.

[ski]

f*** morons !! Neighbors of a friend of mine.. Tried to blame Killington, saying they "followed some tracks off the back by Coops" . . . Sounds like they need to lay off the weed . .

[skiadikt]

So why can't they just send a couple snowmobiles up the Bucklin trail? It shouldn't have been too hard for the snowboarders to get to the Bucklin trail or the logging road that follows Brewers Brook. Just curious, not judging.

know someone who made an unscheduled solo trip down there. though this individual disappeared shortly after noon, search & rescue (who was notified by 1pm) didn't begin their search until about 5pm (with only a half hour or so of daylight left), pretty much ensuring that unless found quickly, this individual would spend the night on the mtn. was kinda of surprised by this. seems to me that if you eventually are gonna do search & rescue, why wait until it could be too late.

[Coydog]

Man, I would think these local kids would know where they were going. There are a number of ways to ski down to Brewers Corner, but they all require a fairly long flat out. Can’t imagine doing that during the storm on Wednesday.

[Dr. NO]

Um, why start a search when the trails are still open????

Also, How do you blame Killington if you left from Coopers? The signs say OUT OF BOUNDS, NOT PATROLLED, WE WILL NOT COME LOOKING FOR YOU!

Dumb asses!

[Clutch]

f*** morons !! Neighbors of a friend of mine.. Tried to blame Killington, saying they "followed some tracks off the back by Coops" . . . Sounds like they need to lay off the weed . .

Phew....good thing it snowed 20" before they got lost or I might be feeling guilty for leaving some of those tracks on Friday and Sunday.

know someone who made an unscheduled solo trip down there. though this individual disappeared shortly after noon, search & rescue (who was notified by 1pm) didn't begin their search until about 5pm (with only a half hour or so of daylight left), pretty much ensuring that unless found quickly, this individual would spend the night on the mtn. was kinda of surprised by this. seems to me that if you eventually are gonna do search & rescue, why wait until it could be too late.

Is there a local search and rescue chapter like Stowe Mountain Rescue or do they have to wait for the Vermont State Police Search & Rescue to show up from where ever they are based?

[Dr. NO]

f*** morons !! Neighbors of a friend of mine.. Tried to blame Killington, saying they "followed some tracks off the back by Coops" . . . Sounds like they need to lay off the weed . .

Phew....good thing it snowed 20" before they got lost or I might be feeling guilty for leaving some of those tracks on Friday and Sunday.

know someone who made an unscheduled solo trip down there. though this individual disappeared shortly after noon, search & rescue (who was notified by 1pm) didn't begin their search until about 5pm (with only a half hour or so of daylight left), pretty much ensuring that unless found quickly, this individual would spend the night on the mtn. was kinda of surprised by this. seems to me that if you eventually are gonna do search & rescue, why wait until it could be too late.

Is there a local search and rescue chapter like Stowe Mountain Rescue or do they have to wait for the Vermont State Police Search & Rescue to show up from where ever they are based?

Killington Ski Patrol, VT State Police and VT National Guard are called in. There is no local rescue group so if you are Stupid enough to get lost like this, you have to wait for help to arrive, IF they are called at all.

[Mister Moose]

Maybe the mountain should start posting copies of these newspaper articles at the out of bounds sign so unprepared neophytes realize they too may be not as smart as a fifth grader.

[Apres Ski Allstar]

So why can't they just send a couple snowmobiles up the Bucklin trail? It shouldn't have been too hard for the snowboarders to get to the Bucklin trail or the logging road that follows Brewers Brook.

I'm pretty sure the best long track snowmobiles in the world wouldn't be able to make it up those steeps in that much powder. They would get bogged down and just spin out. You need something more geared for snow of that depth; probably a snow cat.