4 Found Alive After 3 Days Being Lost

[MA-Caver]

Man Lost in Snow Stayed Strong for Kids
Man Who Was Lost in Calif. Mountains for 3 Days With 3 Kids Says He Overcame Fear With Faith
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=4031519 (also with video interviews)
By JULIET WILLIAMS Associated Press Writer
PARADISE, Calif. Dec 20, 2007 (AP)
A man who was lost in the mountains along with his three children for three days during a snowstorm said he was terrified they wouldn't make it out alive, but he remained strong for his children and relied on his faith.
Frederick Dominguez and the children, who vanished while looking for a Christmas tree, were rescued Wednesday by a helicopter from a snowy ravine, just as another storm was bearing down in the foothill region about 100 miles north of Sacramento.
"You just want your kids to be safe and you're just praying, `God, keep my kids alive,'" Dominguez told reporters at Feather River Hospital in Paradise.
The rescue came as relatives and friends were starting to lose hope. One snowstorm had covered the family's tracks, and an even bigger storm was hours away from burying the four even deeper.

Staying alive and finding shelter, as in this case they found a drainage culvert large enough to hold them all. Struggling to stay alive in conditions like those isn't easy. Primary thing is to stay warm and to keep your core as warm as possible. Sure there's frostbite to worry about but Hypothermia/exposure will kill you without you even being aware of it.
What I've seen of the story the father had the right idea to help the family bond together but the application was flawed. He put the kids at risk wandering off the beaten path to find the perfect tree. Getting lost, in deep forest like that is bad enough, getting lost in the middle of winter at that altitude is serious.
They were lucky to find the culvert but had no fire. Makes me wonder if they even tried. Fire in a survival situation like that is a top priority, even over food and water. With fire you can melt snow for water.

Very lucky and a very happy outcome.

 

[grydth]

Terrific news that this family was rescued.... however as my first Tai Chi sifu said, you shouldn't get yourself into dangerous situations in the first place.

 

[MA-Caver]

Terrific news that this family was rescued.... however as my first Tai Chi sifu said, you shouldn't get yourself into dangerous situations in the first place.

That may be true... still the dad was probably not thinking it would be all that dangerous. After all they're only going out to get a Christmas Tree.