this time with a good outcome
Snowboarders lost in blizzard

I believe a GPS would have caught the fact earlier that they were off course and pushed then back on course. If it had kept them on or near their course we would of never heard about the situation and they probably just spent an extra night in the woods.

They did well in in selecting a good shelter and using the local environment to its best advantage. "The couple built a snow cave, layering pine boughs on the ground and over the top of them, and huddled inside." The pine boughs where their best decision.

I agree, as usual poor navigation was key to their entry to the world of survival. They took a sorta SW heading and drifted to the left of the course they wanted. Very basic GPS nav (Geko or basic eTrex) would have kept them on track. Once there they seemed to do well, kept their heads, did what needed to get done.

Their major screw-up was in not calling after the first night or even before the first night. They had a working cell phone and working signal. Weather might have gone a different way.

They discuss that in the interview. They didn't see a problem with staying out. They had provisions and thought they'd just walk out the next day. Only when they got low on food (candy/power bars) did they give up and make the 9-1-1 call. They used the phone wisely, turning it off when not in use so the battery didn't drain too quickly standing by. I think they did just fine.

No mention of firemaking equipment. Some hot drinks would have been nice, I'll bet. A metal cup with tinder, matches, Bic, firestarter, and some teabags, soup packet and cocoa mix inside it wouldn't have taken up all that much space.

And maybe a couple of cheap emergency blankets in their pockets

They were found Tuesday, probably after they didn't show up for work, and someone remembered that they mentioned going snowboarding somewhere.

I don't have much experience with blizzards. Do blizzards just come out of the blue? Most times we get snow, the weather people have some idea that it's coming. Listening to the radio before they got out of the car might have been a good idea.

They did okay. Not great. I would give them a 5.

Sue

They can. Back in '93 the weather forecast was for a couple inches & we got 18 w/ drifts to three feet over a couple of days.

I get the impression from reading the report that they called the search themselves when they finally got around to dialing 9-1-1 Sunday after running low on food. Then the weather had to clear and they were picked up Tuesday.

As for fire, I agree. While the article doesn't say whether they had a capability to cook or even heat water, we can infer that they didn't have a capability to heat food because all they mention is Powerbars. Just being able to heat water for tea, soup and cocoa would be huge for morale and core warmth. Store your kit inside a Ti kettle. I'd bet their kit was very space/weight limited though since they were snowboarding.

That said, a blanket would have been good for the shared bodily warmth thing, and I'd have had a change of socks. But first I'd have had a small GPS with designated waypoints between my starting point and destination.

Not your typical case, if I understand correctly.

They certainly met the pass/fail test very well. (Pass = alive and well.)

Given they were professional medical personnel, they were certainly capable of recognizing/avoiding dehydration and hypothermia. So they wouldn't call for rescue before they needed it.

As to a mountain blizzard, this can whip up pretty easily, and not with any specific warning. A bit of falling snow, a bit of wind to whip up loose powder, and all you know for sure is that you're on Planet Earth, somewhere north of the equator.

Compass and crude map would have helped, but you need to check the compass regularly before you need to navigate. I can't imagine carrying a GPS at a resort, but I've never carried one anyway, seems like dead weight.

My only thought (which I should apply to myself!) is that when you're in doubt, and have a cell phone signal, you call someone reliable and say "hey, we're okay, but a little turned around, here are the details just in case, if you don't hear back in 24 hours pull the SAR trigger."

Hardly dead weight considering they were snowboarding off the reservation. They were going cross-country through the backcountry to another location. Watch the interview video for a better idea of what they were attempting.

Btw, my Garmin Geko 301 weighs just a few ounces and has a baro altimeter inside. It runs about 12 hours on a pair of alkaline AAA's and can use lithiums if you want the extra runtime, lighter weight and better performance in the cold. It only has a small B&W display, but that's plenty for monitoring your position relative to predesignated waypoints.