CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN, Wash. – A skier and a snowboarder who got lost in the backcountry are safe after hiking some 20-to-35 miles.
Taylor Cameron and Jason Mielcarek, both 27, say they got lost early Thursday near Crystal Mountain, although their friends and family didn't know about it until about 9 p.m. Search and rescue was called out early Friday morning, with helicopters joining in the search at daybreak.
The men say they feel a little sheepish about having caused so much trouble.
"We just want to thank everyone who was there looking out for us and they did a really fine job and did their job well, said Mielcarek.
The men say they didn't realize that they were in an out-of-bounds area and didn't realize they were in trouble until it was too late. At that point, they made their way to Highway 410 where they encountered another person who gave them directions back to Crystal Mountain. Based on what that person told them, they thought it would be OK to keep going by foot.
"He said it was about five miles past where the road ended and it was probably, I don't know, about 17 or something like that so we would definitely not have gone if wasn't the five mile estimation," said Cameron.
The men ultimately skied and snowboarded through the backcountry some more until reaching a ranger station at Ohanapecosh on the east side of Mount Rainier.
"That was out of our search area. Well out of our search area. Understand they're 20-plus miles from here and that's a big distance," said Lt. Cynthia Fajardo, Pierce County Sheriff's Department.
Peter Buck is the boss of the girlfriend of one of the men. He helped locate the men's car at Crystal Mountain and was with the girlfriend when she received a collect phone call from them Friday morning.
"These are very strong young men and so they were trying to get back to civilization," said Buck.
Once the men were located, they had to hike one more mile for a helicopter to pick them up. Because of the helicopter's small size, it had to make separate trips to pick up each man.
Rescuers credit the men's amazing strength and a good dose of luck for their safe return.
"They're both extremely fit, responsible young men from Vermont. I guess at this point they're very grateful knowing who they are but also incredibly embarrassed," said Buck.
