Posted on 01/17/2012 2:54:45 PM PST by afraidfortherepublic
SEATTLE - A snowshoer who was lost in a blizzard for two days on Washington state's Mount Rainier said he burned his paper money for warmth.
Yong Chun Kim, 66, of Tacoma, told KOMO-TV of Seattle that he had fire starters with him and first burned some leaves. Then he started burning personal items: his socks and then $1 and $5 bills from his wallet.
Kim also said he kept moving to keep warm, took cover under a tree at night and dreamed of his wife and a nice hot sauna.
He became separated from his snowshoe group Saturday and wasn't rescued until Monday. Kim was in such good shape that when he was found, he did not have to go to a hospital and instead home with his family.
Searchers traversed deep snow and snowshoed up a river valley to pull him from the icy remote backcountry. The team reached Kim on Monday afternoon but it took nine hours to bring him from the rugged terrain covered in deep snow to a road, spokeswoman Lee Taylor said late Monday.
"The rangers, they're good people," Kim told KOMO. "I love them."
Taylor told the News Tribune newspaper of Tacoma, Wash., that Kim, an experienced hiker, was alert, conscious and stable when he was found by the team of three searchers.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Hell, I do it every winter all winter. LOL
He burned his socks?? Hopefully they were spares he carried in his pack. Also, he did have food with him. Wonder if he burned the can labels / package wrappings?
If you’re lost...and you can start a fire....you make a BIG fire!!!!! Apparently there were trees....duh....wood
And thus, life continues to imitate The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.
A little know-how and a basic kit goes a long, long way toward survival. Sounds like Mr. Kim kept his head and knew enough basic survival to get through in fine shape. Good for him.
“He burned his socks??”
I thought the same thing. Even if they were spares, it was stupid to burn them. Trudging through the snow, he’s gonna need dry socks.
And lucky he was found when he was. We’ve had a bit of snow over the last few days and are expecting significant snowfall starting tonight; at his elevation that could mean over ten feet.
There’s an old Tim Cahill essay called “The Book on Survival.” It starts off telling the story of two teens who were climbing a mountain, but got stranded on a ledge with darkness falling. They had some matches and a book on survival. The essay goes on to talk about the attractions of the whole survival book genre before coming back to the boys. After a couple of hours of using tips in the book to get a fire lit—and failing—they lit the book on fire, were promptly spotted by rescuers and immediately rescued.
I couldn't help wondering... I'm not sure my socks would ever light, or if they did, they might burn with the fury of a small nuclear reaction... either way I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want it in my igloo.
Burning his dry socks was not a bright idea. I am glad he made it out safely. So many of these stories have a tragic ending.
I’m glad they found him and he’s OK. I’m no hiker/snowshoer and as a matter of fact, whenever I get the urge to exercise, I lay down until it passes, but WTF was he doing out on Mt. Rainier, in the middle of winter, ALONE?
Call me crazy, but I’d sure want to have someone with me when I got lost in the snow on a mountain in the middle of winter. But that’s just me...
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