Colorado Teens Survive Blizzard By Burning Snowmobile

Three teen boys were trapped in Routt National Forest in central Colorado Sunday night through a blizzard, 9News reports. The friends -- 17-year-old Justin McAlexander, 17-year-old Jessie Burke and his younger brother, 13-year-old Mason Burke -- were out on a snowmobiling trip when their vehicles got stuck in more than two feet of snow and they were stranded for over 12 hours.

Justin used survival training that he had learned in boy scouts to stay alive. After calling search and rescue, Justin dug a seven-foot pit for Jessie and his brother to try to stay warm in. The teen then collected enough firewood to burn a fire for five hours -- after the fire went out, the boys were forced to sit in the cold for two hours until he took a match from his survival and lit the fuel tank of the snowmobile.

According to local ABC affiliate 7News, areas of eastern Colorado were put under a blizzard watch starting Sunday evening, with the mountains expected to receive the bulk of the snow.

Justin told 9News: "We tried to stay calm. There were some times that we figured that they just stopped looking for us, figured we were dead."

Having told their parents that they would be home by 5 p.m., Justin contacted his father at 6 p.m. to tell him that they would need assistance. Although he could no longer make calls on his phone, he was able to text. The search began at 8 p.m. but was slowed by the blizzard. Craig Daily Press reports that the area where the teens got stranded, north of the town of Craig and above Freeman reservoir, is known to snowmobilers as "Top of the World." The search team located the boys there on Monday morning just before 8 a.m.

Moffat County Sheriff Tim Jantz told the Craig Daily Reporter: “They got stuck in an area that was difficult, but they made the right decision to stay with their machine. If they had tried to leave on foot, their tracks would have been covered by the blizzard conditions."

Comments

[mhsden]

06:26 AM on 02/23/2012

Smart kids ; )

[beobnoxious]

05:09 AM on 02/23/2012

would have been smarter to stay home playing video games

[pduffy875]

02:41 AM on 02/23/2012

fianally a positive story with a good outcome.. smart teens

[annedyth]

01:48 AM on 02/23/2012

I will admit the idea of Being stranded and lost is something that scares me. hope I never have to go thru it. But If I do, hope I'm at least as prepaired as these young men!

[MANOFCOMMONSENSE]

12:35 AM on 02/23/2012

You take that many guys and move the snowmobile to level snow.. The track tends to sink.. You pick it up and swing it sideways to unbury the track.. Option 2 is you have 1 guy grab each ski in the front and pull forward as the other guy hits the gas. Option 3 leave the one thats buried and ride double on the others.... 2 to 4 foot of snow is normal in the upper part of Michigan.. You never stop on fresh deep virgin snow.. You wait for a clearing and circle in a uturn type move and come back over top of the snow you just packed down the first time..

[DevonTexas]

08:55 PM on 02/25/2012

so now you tell us!? LOL Good advice.

[cj7snow]

09:30 PM on 03/01/2012

I have road with you guys from up North and have to pull you out all day or just ask Wolfgang Call Search & Rescue to come find you because we have real Mountains in Colorado and yes they did put all on one sled. But a gain a 17 year old 100LB young man taking care of a 240LB 17 year old with a frozen foot and a 150 LB 13 year old He did a good job. If you look at the weather report the snow hit fast and Steamboat hit a record in 24 hours. When You already dug both snowmobiles out and barred them again and can,t make it up the hill you go down. This is what they did. Do me a favor do NOT COME TO COLORADO to ride I do not want to come get you. So keep ridding them trails Bar to Bar

[hustler101]

12:02 AM on 02/23/2012

google maps can't get u out of these situations? then what good r smart phones!

[RJ9255]

09:56 PM on 02/22/2012

Thank God they're safe and used their survival skills and knowledge to shield themselves from the blizzard by digging a trench in which to stay warm and burned the snowmobile after their first fire burned out by the blizzard conditions. All that matters is it's what helped keep them warm enough to survive such awful weather until they could be rescued. Kudos to Justin and the other two for staying calm and doing what needed to be done. God bless you all.

[solidermedicabn]

09:39 PM on 02/22/2012

did they really have to burn a snowmobile?

[dano376]

09:12 PM on 02/22/2012

AS a Scout we were taught "TO BE PREPARED" .... Grew up joined the COAST GUARD they trained us To Be "ALWAYS READY" (so others may llive.). The fact that these young men kept their cool, and used what they were taught SAVED their LIFES. Let us all take / learn from this experience....

[smeeg]

08:28 PM on 02/22/2012

I live in Routt County east of Craig and believe me, it's easy to get lost and stuck in the back woods.We've finally gotten some snow and I was told that in some areas it's 6 ft thick of fresh powder :D

[Rose Zelaya]

08:17 PM on 02/22/2012

Boys scouts need to make him a poster child- good thinking- great skills,,, leardership material for sure!!

[Tinkerbelle7]

08:13 PM on 02/22/2012

So glad to hear the boys survived!!!

[itsonlyfab]

07:58 PM on 02/22/2012

Good thinking boys. Sounds like they did everything right. I'm glad it was such a good outcome!

[cmdrmom2]

07:23 PM on 02/22/2012

They will have a great story to tell their grandkids!

[wildbill654]

07:17 PM on 02/22/2012

They were lucky and that, along with survival skills saved the day. Too many go into the wild with the spirit of adventure and find themselves confronted with the whims of nature and little knowledge of what to do. It's a story with a happy ending and those that use skis and snomobiles should take note.