Stranded skier built snow cave to survive overnight in Grand Teton National Park

A backcountry skier was alone on the second-highest peak in Wyoming’s Teton Range when a foot of fresh snow began to fall, and he knew he was about to be stranded, park rangers said.

The 27-year-old man set out Thursday, March 31, to ski a couloir on Disappointment Peak in Grand Teton National Park, officials said.

He made it to the top of his initial climb and decided to go even farther through a more technical couloir.

“During this climb, due to its technical nature, he realized he would be unable to reverse course and climb back down to the top of the Koven Couloir,” park rangers said in a April 1 news release. “The man was not carrying a rope.”

The skier reached the top of the East Prong and found himself stuck in “whiteout conditions,” officials said. He called for help at about 7:30 p.m. to report he couldn’t make it off the mountain.

“The man told the ranger he had dug a snow cave on top of the East Prong and would stay in it overnight,” rangers said. “He planned to wake up the next morning and make his way down once visibility improved.”

A foot of new snow fell overnight in the mountains, park officials said. The man sent a text to park rangers at 6:30 a.m. to report he was doing OK.

But after about 30 minutes of assessing his situation, the skier told rangers he wouldn’t be able to get off the mountain safely and was stranded.

Park rangers rescued the man by helicopter at about 10:30 a.m. on Friday, April 1. He was not injured.

“Rangers want to remind the public that when traveling in technical terrain, it is important to have the means to reverse one’s ascent,” park officials said.

This story was originally published April 4, 2022 at 8:18 AM with the headline "Stranded skier built snow cave to survive overnight in Grand Teton National Park."