The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department rescued a snowboarder who had been lost for two nights in the San Gabriel Mountains without camping supplies, food, or even a jacket.
“He was lucky,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Casey Cheshier to the Los Angeles Times. “It was very bad conditions, especially for what he was wearing and what he had on him.”
Malachi Luis Garcia was wearing just snow pants, snowboard boots, gloves, and a hooded sweatshirt in the snowy mountains. He didn’t have a working cell phone.
Mountain High Resort was the recipient of more than a foot of fresh snow Monday, which could have hindered the rescue operation. The sheriff’s department was able to locate Garcia using heat-detecting drones.
About 40 search and rescue members from across California joined in the rescue efforts. Helicopters were unable to get into the air because of the snowfall, and Garcia left his phone in the parking lot of Mountain High, Antelope Valley Search and Rescue Deputy Orlando Martinez told the LA Times.
Garcia took a wrong turn while snowboarding with his friends at Mountain High, according to a report from CBS News. He was separated from them, and ended up four miles from the resort.
The rescue team was able to spot Garcia’s footprints while in the helicopter on Tuesday. They followed them for about two miles, and then Cheshier dropped from the helicopter after the team spotted someone in a canyon near the snowline.
Martinez told the LA Times that Garcia was drinking stream water during the day, and found shelter from the conditions by getting close to bigger trees during the night time. He would walk around as much as possible to leave tracks and stay warm after the storm passed. Garcia ended up walking more than two miles, and descended at least 1,300 feet in elevation from where he originally took a wrong turn.
While rescues do happen, the people involved typically have some health issues upon being rescued. Aside from being extremely cold, Garcia was the exception.
“He was pretty emotional, he had been out there for a long time. He was pretty tired, very cold, just happy to be found. He survived, that’s all that matters,” Cheshier told CBS News. “He’s not dressed appropriately, he didn’t have a proper [waterproof] shell,” Martinez said. “It’s a miracle. Not a scratch on him.”
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