I think if he's found, he's had all the poke he needs to know to (a) stay with the car and (b) scenic roads in winter are a bit sketchy. I don't think any of us are damning him, but instead dissecting the incident based on the information given.
I'd say there is always a lot to be learned from someone else's victories and mistakes.
I heard the same piece browning did about finding his pants. It makes me thing we're going to need a sceance to reach him, and I hope I'm wrong, or better, that the newsies got it wrong.
At first, I thought it was just a short gully he went into and figured he ditched his pants to wade in for some water to drink, but video on TV shows that this is VERY rugged terrain.
Google Maps shows that it is pretty steep also. To retrieve the pants, they had to lower a guy from a chopper hovering over the trousers.
Everyday worsens the outlook for sure. Barometric pressure is dropping with hi humidity and increase in wind this weekend. 20-60% chance of precipitation on Saturday and Sunday.
That said, I think most of us here try to educate. But people, as a rule, don't want to listen: "Don't worry, I've done it a hundred times." Famous last words at number 101.
It's sad, but James Kim's most recent write-up on CNET was about the Zune media player ($250). For the price of 2 Zunes or Ipods, he could have purchased an inexpensive 406 PLB like the FastFind. With a PLB, he and Kati would be stressing out over a $3000 tow out on a snowy frozen NF road instead of this horrific nightmare.
There are a lot of gadget bloggers following this. I hope they are able to increase awareness regarding PLB's. This may be a double-edged sword, though, as there is increased ownership of PLB's there will inevitably be increased false alarms and misutilization of limited SAR resources. Increased demand might also drive down per unit cost, however.
This may also increase understanding of the limitations of the cellular network, whether for handheld or On-Star systems.
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