By Jack Reaney SENIOR EDITOR
On Dec. 25, an 18-year-old male snowboarder became lost in the Big Mountain backcountry accessible from Whitefish Mountain Resort in northwest Montana. He was discovered hunkered down in a safe-haven cabin designed for exactly that purpose.
According to reporting by the Daily Inter Lake, the North Valley and Flathead County search and rescue teams led a joint rescue effort. They discovered footprints heading toward a rescue cabin maintained by the Flathead Snowmobile Association, and found the snowboarder at 8:40 p.m. in the cabin, where he had lit a fire.
“He did the right thing by hunkering down and waiting for help to arrive,” North Valley Search and Rescue told Daily Inter Lake. The cabin has been around for 45 years, and replaced an earlier structure of the same purpose.
The snowboarder was brought back to the summit of Big Mountain, where Whitefish ski patrollers escorted him to safety.
Amanda Berlinger, president of the nonprofit Flathead Snowmobile Association, spoke on the phone with Explore Big Sky on Dec. 30. She said the organization hasn’t kept track of the total number of rescues over the past half-century, but the Christmas Day rescue has certainly spurred some reminiscent stories from grateful community members.
“Anecdotally there’s been more than a handful of individuals who have taken shelter in the cabin overnight, in a survival situation,” Berlinger told EBS. “… It’s in place for anyone who needs a place to stop and be warm.”
The cabin is accessed almost daily by snowmobilers, who use it as a warming hut and often a barbecue spot. As an unspoken rule, many visitors leave leftover water and stable foods in the cabin for potential emergency visitors.
The cabin has a stove and is stocked with firewood, and the U.S. Forest Service provides a toilet as the cabin is located in the Flathead National Forest.
“We are so glad that the cabin was there for this young man when he needed it the most,” Berlinger said. “Is it intended to be available for anyone out there in this wilderness. Any recreation person, it doesn’t have to just be snowmobilers… and for dire situations such as this.”
Berlinger said he was lucky to follow the path of least resistance and discover the cabin, likely in the darkness.
“We are really very grateful that the cabin was there for him when he really needed it, and it will continue to be there for as long as we continue to maintain it,” Berlinger said.
She believes that the regional and national interest in the story will help generate support for the nonprofit as it continues providing a critical resource.
