Snowmobilers rescue trio from a cold night in woods

Three young men escaped a possible frigid night outdoors or worse Sunday when a group of snowmobilers rescued them after their truck got stuck in the snow on Bear Lake Main Road. Roberto Fiume, his son and a group of friends were returning from a day of snowmobiling Sunday afternoon on Bear Lake Main Road when they encountered the young men. It was close to 4 p.m. and Fiume and his group were sledding to their vehicles when they noticed an abandoned truck in the snow. About two kilometres later, they met three young men walking through the deep snow. Bear Lake Main Road has traditionally been plowed, but this year with Tolko mill closures, it has not been cleared. The young men were still at least eight kilometres from Westside Road. “Eight or nine kilometres might not sound like much until you try to walk it,” Fiume said. It was getting dark, the wind was howling and the temperature was plummeting as arctic air moved in. “They were so happy to see us,” Fiume said. The young men were ill prepared for winter weather and had ventured out without chains, blankets, matches or even a shovel. “One kid was wearing sneakers,” said Fiume. The snowmobilers took the young men back up to their vehicle and using a snowmobile and some manpower got the truck turned around and back on the road. They made sure the young men made it onto Westside Road. “If we hadn’t come along, I shudder,” Fiume said, noting there hadn’t been any people behind them who could have helped. “They never would have made it on foot,” he added.