Two skiers from Hawaii were rescued from the wilderness near Leadville, Colorado yesterday. The duo, Kira Davis and Duc Ong, got lost while skiing seven miles between huts on Christmas Day. After spending a night out in minus-10-degree temperatures, keeping warm by moving and taking shelter near trees, the pair were picked up by a Colorado Army National Guard helicopter.
It would be easy to write off a couple of lost beachy people in the mountains as dumbasses, but honestly, I feel for these guys. Routes between huts can be tricky, especially if the skin track has been covered with new or wind-blown snow, there are few landmarks, and its getting dark. Is all well that ends well? I can't help but ponder the lessons to be learned. Brush up on your map-and-compass skills when you're Hawaiian and you're embarking on a seven-mile ski through the woods? Use a GPS? Carry a personal locator beacon? What's the moral of the story, according to you, ϳԹ magazine readers?
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