Six hours from the trailhead, 2 hours past his turn-around time and with storms filling in from the valley, Alex Theissen was at the edge of panic. What had started as a unremarkable spring outing in the White Mountains was going south quickly and the prospect of spending the night exposed at the timberline, with plummeting temperatures and not much more than some hard cheese and a foil survival blanket was becoming a distinct reality.
Rather than giving in to an all-too-human panic response, Theissen sat, took stock and acted in a way that likely saved his life.
The impending sense of panic is familiar to any individual stranded on a windward shore with a gale coming on, disoriented in a maze of bike trails or caught, like Theissen on an exposed ridge with foul weather on the horizon. In the case of Theissen, survival started with the acronym, S.T.O.P.
Shelter/ Warmth
What Theissen did was find a root cavity that provided both shelter and tinder; he sealed it as completely as possible with packed snow, and insulated himself from the ground using evergreen boughs. He managed to nurse a fire which, while it really never took, provided a certain degree of comfort and localized heat.
In cold temperatures, exposure can kill before anything else has a chance. In Theissen’s case, staying above the timberline was untenable; thus getting below the treeline was his first priority. After that he would need to create or find shelter, and finally (if possible) create warmth.
While it’s beyond the scope of this article to describe shelter making or fire building in detail (shelter can be found in tree wells, in snow caves, and in the hollows of river banks; tinder is less available in winter than summer, none-the-less evergreens will often yield dry needles, pitch impregnated bark can often be sourced and if the snow-pack is not so deep as to disallow it, reserves of dry leaves and grass can be found under trees, rock overhangs and in tree wells), suffice it say that without either, chance of survival diminish.
Route Finding
By marking his return route to the ridgeline, and traveling only so far as required to ensure shelter, Theissen knew that once visibility returned he would be able to find his way back to the trailhead.
Route finding depends on visibility; thus traveling at night, in a white-out or in heavily wooded terrain increases the chances of becoming lost. It’s doubly important in these conditions to think, plan and observe … and to acknowledge that it’s not always prudent to act. It’s often better to stay put than it is to flounder around in unfamiliar terrain risking further disorientation and injury.
There was no way Theissen was going to find his way back to the trailhead in the impending whiteout. And it needs to be stressed; there was NO way he should have tried … even descending to the treeline was a challenge. That said, he was not lost and he had to keep it that way.
Creating Visibility
If all went well, Theissen would hole up for the night in his makeshift shelter and walk out the following morning. If he were, creating the conditions to be found would be his next priority.
Positioning – on ridgelines, open riverbanks, at the treeline
Mobility (or lack thereof) – stationary targets are easier to find
Had Theissen been lost, he would have returned to the ridgeline when conditions allowed, created visibility (stamped a signal in the snow, anchored his foil blanket, built a smudge fire …) and not strayed from the area.
Hydration
It hardly needs said, that if you’ve got fuel and a means to light it, the ice and snow you’re surrounded with are a viable source of hydration. In the alpine, solar radiation can be powerful enough to create ice-melt against dark rock faces.
Nutrition
Sit … Think … Observe … Plan …
Rather than giving in to an all-too-human panic response, Theissen sat, took stock and acted in a way that likely saved his life. There was no way Theissen was going to find his way back to the trailhead in the impending whiteout. If all went well, Theissen would hole up for the night in his makeshift shelter and walk out the following morning. There was enough light for Theissen to return to the ridge line and find the marked descent by dawn.
The impending sense of panic is familiar to any individual stranded on a windward shore with a gale coming on, disoriented in a maze of bike trails or caught, like Theissen on an exposed ridge with foul weather on the horizon. In the case of Theissen, survival started with the acronym, S.T.O.P.
As it turns out, the Theissen’s storm passed and by 3am the White’s were lit by a brilliant moon. There was enough light for Theissen to return to the ridge line and find the marked descent by dawn.
There is good reason why survival literature frequently describes frozen landscapes as arid … there’s not much alive, and there’s not much to eat. Once the situation has stabilized all efforts need to turn towards positioning one’s self to being found or logically and methodically finding one’s way out.
Nutrition can be more difficult, and needs to figure heavily in any self-rescue plan. Cold weather requires more calories from the body and, while it is possible to live weeks without food, hunger is debilitating and lowers the bodies resistance to cold and the ability to cope.
