Snowmobile breaks down 10 miles from man’s truck — so he huddles in bathroom for warmth
A man was stranded nearly a dozen miles from his truck when his snowmobile broke down in Wyoming’s backcountry.
Rescuers found him huddled in a bathroom for warmth, Carbon County Sheriff Alex Bakken said on Facebook.
“The first snowmobile search and rescue of the winter was successfully completed last night, marking the unofficial start of snowmobiling season here in Carbon County,” he wrote in the Dec. 3 post.
Deputies received a call from Albany County Emergency Personnel about a snowmobile broken down about 10 miles from the rider’s truck. The vehicle was parked at Green Rock on the Albany County side of the mountain, likely placing the stranded rider in Carbon County.
A rescue team responded to the area on snowmobiles, an all-terrain carrier vehicle known as a Hagglund and a helicopter.
They found the broken down snowmobile first, then found the man huddled in a bathroom near a scenic turnout.
And while there is a warming hut trailer with a wood burning stove in the area, it was locked the night the snowmobiler was stranded, the sheriff said in the comments.
“Besides being cold, the subject was uninjured and did not require medical attention,” officials said. “Searchers were able to bring the stranded rider back to his truck.”
Bakken reminded snowmobilers not to ride alone.
“He broke the golden rule,” Jeff Shanor, a backcountry guide with Sled Wyo, told Cowboy State Daily. “Never ride alone.”
Shanor said it’s crucial to take life-saving precautions in the backcountry, including notifying friends and family where one’s headed, carrying enough emergency supplies to survive two nights in the backcountry and packing emergency repair tools and a satellite communication device.
“Don’t underestimate how remote we truly are,” he told the outlet. “People think they can walk in our deep snow. That’s certainly not the case.”
This story was originally published December 4, 2024 at 1:47 PM with the headline "Snowmobile breaks down 10 miles from man’s truck — so he huddles in bathroom for warmth."
