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NIBLEY, Utah – At home with his wife Adie, and three daughters, Cory Krambule says is now grateful for those simple things in life. On October 18th, he wasn’t sure he’d ever make it back home alive, after he found himself stranded in a blizzard.
“(I’m) a changed person,” Krambule said. “You can’t do that, and not come out different. Every perspective just shifts.”
On the 18th, Krambule had gone for a short walk away from the camp he’d set up with his father and friend in the Swan Flats area, in Logan Canyon. As the snow started to roll in, he found himself separated, and unsure of where he was.
“As soon as it started getting dark, that’s when I realized, ‘I’m in trouble,'” Krambule said. Krambule says he tried repeatedly to find his way back to camp, but tripped and fell multiple times. He eventually decided to light a fire, and hunker down for the night.
“I literally spent the whole night on my knees, hunched over, with a little tiny fire of twigs, with my hands, had my face over it,” Krambule recalled. “If my core started shivering, I would literally just grab my jacket and pull it open, and put the fire under that.”
As the storm started to clear, he say he started trying once again to find the road. “I just couldn’t logically figure out where I was,” Krambule said. “I’ve never ever had that happen before. Never in the mountains.”
(I’m) a changed person. You can’t do that, and not come out different. Every perspective just shifts.
–Cory Krambule
By that point, Krambule says hypothermia had started to set in. He started seeing things, like cars, that never materialized as he got closer. He says one thing kept him going.
“I kept picturing my girls, and I kept picturing Addie, and I kept saying, ‘I can do this. I can do this. There’s not an option.
I’m going to get out of here,'” Krambule said.
Krambule says he eventually spotted some boot prints that looked fresh. He was able to follow them back to the road.
“The more I think about it, those were angel footprints,” he said. “I wish I could find that hunter. I’d give him a great big hug. He has no idea what he did.”
Krambule was able to wave down a passer by in a truck, who turned out to be a relative who was helping look for him. Out of the experience, he warns other hunters to always bring your gear, and never take your loved ones for granted.
“Your family and your friends, and your loved ones, that’s where your heart is. That’s where you need to be,” Krambule said.
