Agreed - THAT is a major fail, thanks for pointing that out.

But if they'd stopped sooner they would have been closer to their last known position. That is kind of helpful when visibility improves and you're trying to figure out where the heck you are.

Anyway - solely relying on GPS is not good. And when you do have a GPS you should use it to it's full capabilities, such as adding waypoints frequently.

But fiddling with a GPS is NOT funny in a blizzard. Not all GPS can be used with heavy mittens (big buttons). And the best GPS in the world is no use if you can't take it out of your pocket because it's a freeking crazy blizzard and you don't want to loose your mitten or freeze your hand off while fiddling with that pocket zipper and those tiny buttons. Not to mention the fact that many screens will get sluggish and unresponsive at low temperatures.

Anyway, the couple did EXTREMELY well under the circumstances, digging in and keeping their spirits up. Big kudos!


Failures: Not leaving a game plan, no paper map (and no compass??). I'm also tempted to add "relying on untested/unfamiliar technology" with regards to the GPS thingy, but I haven't the facts to back up my gut feeling.