From an article about a snowboarder who was lost for a couple days:

Boucher said he survived the freezing nights in the hazardous North Shore wilderness, in part, by using his own urine in a Ziploc bag as a kind of hot water bottle.

Seems pretty clever to me.

A $10,000 bill for rescue... bet he was p*ssed about that!

How does that old saying go? "Don't give me a p*ss bottle and tell me it's hot water!"



But seriously, not a bad move on his part. If you're going to give up that heat anyway, might as well get some of it back.

Based on the title, I assumed the post was going to involve a Ton-Ton.

-john

That's another aspect of this story altogether. That the hill is going against the recommendations of the SAR group doesn't sit too well with me. I also wonder if such a bill would be enforceable.

I wasn't able to find much yet about Boucher's response to the bill, other than this (from the same article): "... he is aware he might get a bill from Cypress Mountain to help pay for his rescue, but committed only to raising money for the North Shore Search and Rescue Society."

Oh ... and I did get & enjoy the pun despite my first, humourless response

Glad he is OK and Kudos to all.

What could he have carried?

handwarmers 2/$5

signal mirror and whistle $15

Spare food/ water $10

walkie talkie $40

Emergency "space" blanket $10

GPS $120

or

Cost for rescue $10,000

Don't forget a PLB for $240.

After watching the video at the top of the article, I'm willing to cut him some slack. He says that he was notified of his best friend's death on the way to the mountain and left his backpack behind even though he brought it to the mountain with him. As he said, he probably should have just turned around and gone home instead of continuing with his day given his emotional state.

That said, you are absolutely correct, some simple, relatively inexpensive gear would have gone a long way to improving his situation.

As always, the story presented is not always what it seems. Yes this man lost a friend and yes he may of left his backpack behind. However the claim that he was distracted and simply took a wrong turn is far from the truth...

I know the area he was in and there is are plenty of warning signs etc posted.

A rep from the ski resort stated this also: Koeman (of Cypress Mountain) said that in order to end up where he did, Boucher, 33, of West Vancouver, had to have ignored and disobeyed a series of warning signs and then either climbed over or crawled under a boundary rope.""

Also on another local forum, much the same:

"There are signs, gates, notices. Cypress can't do more other then close sky chair." (the lift.)

Luckily for this man, the local SAR rescued him and with all SAR teams, The risk is very high, but they do it anyway.

Fair enough, I don't know the area or what is required to go out of bounds where he did. That said, given the emotional aspect, I wouldn't be surprised if the real story falls somewhere between intentional and unintentional action. I personally don't have an issue giving him the benefit of the doubt but admit I may not have enough facts.

As an aside, it looks like the SAR group isn't planning on accepting any money Cypress might get by billing Boucher. On their blog Tim Jones wrote: "The subject and Cypress are negotiating the bill. We have nothing to do with it and will not , I repeat will not receive a donation from Cypress ... NSR HAS A CLEAR POLICY AGAINST FINES OR CHARGES."

One thing that people don't seem to realize is that someone sending you a bill doesn't mean you have to pay it. The resort would be hard-pressed to make a lawsuit stick given NSR's written policies and statement.

Hmm, at what point did the "hot water bottle" cease to be a source of heat and become something else to keep warm with his own body heat? My guess, in about an hour maybe two. After that, keeping the bag next to you would only rob the person of heat to prevent the bag from freezing. Still, its worth the effort.

I vastly prefer to sunggle up in a down bag or suitably warm clothing, but a warm bag of urine, even for a brief time, is better than letting all that heat make yellow holes in the snow.

A follow up to this thread. Yup, it's the same guy. Bravo.

"Snowboarder lost in backcountry on Cypress raises $10,000 for North Shore Search and Rescue"

METRO VANCOUVER - A snowboarder who was rescued after being stranded for days in back country near Cypress Mountain Resort last year has raised $10,000 for the search team.

Sebastien Boucher, 33, went snowboarding out of bounds in December and spent three freezing days lost without food or shelter.

Boucher raised the money by holding a fundraising hockey tournament in Ottawa. He's also been working with the resort to make an instructional video to educate people about the dangers of going out of bounds.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Snowboa...2882/story.html

Good on him! I wish more people showed the gratitude and initiative that Mr. Boucher has displayed.

Agreed! Definitely not your typical reaction.