This now rescued person made a lot of mistakes that could of ended up with him dead. He had no survival gear but fortunately had a GPS, cell phone and a whistle that may of ultimately saved his life. (Note: Courtenay is in British Columbia Canada and the Mount Washington mentioned in the below link is a ski resort west of Courtenay. Comox is slightly SE of Courtenay.

Search and rescue volunteers carried out a dramatic 16-hour rescue mission spanning Christmas Eve and Christmas Day after a skier became stranded on a cliff in waist deep snow on a Courtenay mountainside.

The skier, a Courtenay man in his early 20s, called the Victoria Joint Rescue Coordination Centre around 12:30 p.m. Saturday asking for help getting off a section of Mount Beecher dubbed Forbidden Plateau, just west of Courtney, according to air force coordinator Capt. Ray Jacobson.

A team of 16 Comox ground search and rescue volunteers were deployed, eight trudging through the waist-deep snow on snowshoe and eight trying to get to the man on snowmobiles, said search and rescue coordinator Paul Berry.

Wow, he really lucked out. Those are some tough, dedicated folks doing SAR.

He was smart to call for help when he did.

Although it wasn't totally clear to me from the article, this sounds like a "side country" rescue. Side country generally refers to areas that are accessable from ski area lifts, but not within the boundaries of the ski area. (Not quite back country, but not front country either.) These situations sometimes occur when skiers cross the closed boundaries of ski areas. Also, these days many ski areas have backcountry gates, and permit skiers to ride the lifts up, then exit the area.

Unfortunately, there are many who, while they may be expert skiers, don't have the skills or gear to take care of themselves once outside the lift served area. They underestimate the challenges of traveling in untracked, unmarked, and unpatroled terrain. Good job by the SAR team, and I'm glad this turned out to have a happy ending!