Northern Snowmobilers Survive Weather Scare
Monday, March 03, 2008 at 15:12
Five snowmobilers on their way from Buffalo Narrows to Dillon Saturday evening were forced to make snow shelters on Peter Pond Lake when blizzard-like conditions forced them to alter their travel plans.
The RCMP say nine people on five snow machines left Buffalo Narrows for Dillon at around 7:00 that night.
Three hours later, four of the people managed to make it back to Buffalo Narrows and reported that their other five travel companions, two men and three adult women, were lost somewhere on the lake.
The Mounties say weather conditions at the time were “quite severe” with near-whiteout conditions on the lake — and not suitable for a search that evening.
The RCMP say a man and woman were located Sunday morning — they had survived the elements overnight by building themselves a small snow cave along the shore.
Two other women were found walking back to the community. They had apparently built a shelter by their snowmobile and waited until the conditions were more favorable.
The final missing snowmobiler, a 25-year-old man, was found Sunday afternoon.
He was eventually sent to the hospital in Ile-a-la-Crosse for observation with injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening.
The other missing snowmobilers were taken to the health centre in Buffalo Narrows for treatment, but were eventually released.
All the missing individuals were found by local searchers.