Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
WASATCH COUNTY -- Brock Besner, 27, and Craig Dallessandro, 24, spent three days and two nights stranded in extreme weather in the mountains above Heber City, living in a snow cave, like the ones you learn to make as a boy scout.
Too many people make the decision to make shelter and start providing for their livelihood long after their abilities are gone.
–Joel Kohler
Search and rescue teams say the men did exactly what they were supposed to do -- build a shelter. The two found a grove of trees that helped form a small hole in the deep snow, then dug it out further protecting them from high winds and cold temperatures.
The two MacGyver'd a fire by soaking a rag in the fuel from their snowmobiles, igniting it using a spark from a pulled spark-plug wire and pulling the ignition cord, then maintained the fire by breaking branches off of nearby trees.
Related:
Rescued snowmobilers describe survival in wilderness
"We'll be right back." Famous last words leading up to a three-day ordeal for Brock Besner, 27, and Craig D'Allessandro, 24."Being able to build a fire under those conditions is quite incredible," said Wasatch County Sheriff Todd Bonner.
Joel Kohler with Wasatch County's search and rescue team says the shelter is a great example of what you should do if you're lost in the backcountry during the winter.
"Too many people make the decision to make shelter and start providing for their livelihood long after their abilities are gone," he said. "As hard as it is, at some point you've got to decide, ‘I'm in trouble, it's time to make shelter and wait for help.'"
The pair also used plastic bottles to melt snow for water.
"They made some good decisions," said Kohler.
Those decisions allowed Besner and Dallessandro to survive.
E-mail: acabrero@ksl.com
