A Sunday drive gone wrong. Three seniors got onto a road not normally maintained in winter, and got stuck. One (71!) tried to walk out for help. He made it 15 km and was found dead the next day, 6 km short of getting help.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2013/03/26/calgary-crowsnest-snowmobile-death.html

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/albe...5831/story.html

The takeaway is to keep repeating this message to people: unless you are fit, skilled, and have adequate clothing, stay with the vehicle, stay with the vehicle, stay with the vehicle. And, insist on putting an old cell phone with car charger and instructions in every vehicle glove box despite all objections.

Also, Canada in Winter requires specialized clothing. And its still Winter up there.

So sad.

Les Stroud did a Discovery Channel special called "Lost in the Snow", where he analysized what one couple on "I Shouldn't Be Alive" did when their truck broke down and they were stranded flr 9 days in the middle of nowhere Navada in the middle of winter. He shows what to do to survive a similar situation.

Of course, the best strategy is to not get stuck in the first
place to have a rescue plan in place in case you do.

An unnecessary death is certainly sad, but it's equally frustrating because it didn't have to happen.

In this case, they had told someone when they were expected back, so they would have been reported as overdue.

The man tried to walk out in the afternoon. And then, the next morning, the two women tried to walk out and were met by searchers. None had adequate clothing.

If they had just stayed with the vehicle, they would have been fine. Argh!

Here's what would have happened with any combination of two females in my life. They would have gotten a little cold in the car, but it would have been "freezing" if you had asked them. In short order, they both would have been looking at me and bugging me to do something, anything. (Now, until I read this thread, I'm ashamed to admit, I did not know the importance of staying with the car.) So, me being me, I would have gotten out the car to go find help, just like this man did.

It's easy to armchair quarterback, but I think it's better to look at a situation from different angles. We all do dumb stuff, especially heterosexual men when a damsel is in distress. Hopefully, this guy died feeling like he was attempting something heroic, as opposed to feeling like a loser.

I can't believe we have seniors who think a drive down an unmaintained snowy road in the middle of nowhere is "a Sunday drive". I wonder if senility figured into the picture?

It's possible they didn't realize the road wasn't maintained in winter. The Kim family didn't. Situations like this one happen to people in all ages and stages of life. Don't be fooled into thinking "That would never happen to me because I'm not old like them." (Not saying that's what you're doing, haertig, just pointing it out for other's sake.)

That said, senility could have been a factor. A good reminder to keep an eye on older loved ones.

They were only 71, 69, and 66. But just growing old doesn't guarantee that they would have acquired relevant experience for the situation they faced.

I totally agree, hikermor!

We've all dealt with people who think they're wise just because they have a few years under their belt. Likewise, some people find it easy to dismiss others because of they're getting old.

People get overconfident and end up under prepared - be it in equipment, experience or knowledge - for a number of reasons. Add to that the reality that we don't don't know what we don't know, and you have the holy trinity of impending disaster. It usually takes a series of small missteps to add up to a survival situation, and it's very easy to be blind to your own risk factors because they don't exactly replicate someone else's.

I wasn't trying to say "I'm not old like them". I'm getting close. 56. But maybe it's just my more conservative nature. I would look at some snow covered road in the middle of nowhere and say, "No way am I driving down that path!" And as I get older, I get more and more careful in what I do.