I was snowshoeing with a group when someone (Patient 1) slipped on some ice and slid down a steep gully. Another member of the group (Patient 2) immediately went after her, slipped on the same ice, and also slid down the gully. Patient 2 hit a tree after sliding about 150 feet and came to a stop. The impact shattered his lower left leg (later revealed 4 fractures total). Patient 1 slid further and was out of sight at this point. Patient 2 was found in a tree well about 50 feet further down the slope. She was banged up a bit, possibly with a cracked rib, and was a little dazed and confused about the situation. She didn’t appear to hit her head on anything.

After coming to the conclusion that neither one of them would be walking out, I activated my ResQLink. We did what we could to keep both patients warm as the temperatures started to drop, we also had sporadic snowfall. After several hours, a helicopter appeared but was circling over the wrong area. They turned around almost immediately after arriving due to thick fog blowing in.

We were starting to think we may end up spending the night out there. But after an hour or so, the fog cleared. We eventually spotted search and rescue personnel on the ground about half a mile away, but they were on the other side of the gully. (It’s curious that S&R and the helicopter presumably had our GPS coordinates, but both initially were searching in the wrong areas.) With clear skies, the helicopter came back and hoisted out the 2 patients.

The 4 of us that were left packed up everything and began walking out in the dark. When we made it back to our cars, there was a fireman waiting to make sure we made it out ok.