Winter Survival Story

In keeping with the snow stories (and it is snowing again if you can believe it), on Monday morning I interviewed a group of hunters, including a family with three kids, who were stranded in the backwoods for 2 days. What a great story!
(this is the story that appeared in the Houston Today)

This weekend’s snowstorm turned a family’s hunting expedition into a struggle to reach civilization.
Kevin and Val Wiley, along with their three children, Tanner, 14, who has cerebral palsy, Hunter, six, and Samantha two, along with Val’s father Roman Reschke, from Prince Rupert, spent two days in the bush, finally reaching Houston on Sunday night.
“We’ve hunted up there for 15 years and the snow has never really driven us out,” Wiley said. “We listened to the forecast and it was only supposed to be 15 cm, so we decided to stay. Then we realized it was going to be way more than 15 centimetres after four hours of straight snow.”
After the trailer got stuck, they left it behind on Cutthroat Road.
“We left just with the trucks so we could get our kids town,” Wiley said, adding that the way back was horrible.
“There was probably minimum of two feet of snow on the Nanika Road,” he said. “Everytime you stopped you’d slide in the ditch.”
Wiley said they got stuck four times in a 12 kilometre stretch, and spent an hour each time trying to dig themselves out.
While driving down Nado Road where they came upon another vehicle owned by Randy Lippert from Quesnel, with his son Tyler.
After digging him out they continued, but when they reached the intersection of Morice River Road and Bill Nye Road and they couldn’t go any further.
“It was too late then, and we were cold and the kids were tired,” Wiley said. “We slept in the truck and left it running all night.”
Two more trucks joined their make-shift camp that night. Wiley said it was unreal.
“We stayed there for two days,” he said. “Five trucks, 11 people, four kids – one with cerebral palsy.”
“It snowed atleast another two feet overnight on Saturday,” Wiley said. “We knew we were stuck and not going anywhere.”
Wiley added they couldn’t sleep in the truck anymore and so they dug their way to his father-in-law’s eight-foot camper.
One of men who joined the group, Ron Rutherford from Terrace had a satellite phone they used to call the RCMP and friends.
“Ron phoned RCMP at three a.m. Friday night,” Wiley said. “But there was a miscommunication, the RCMP had thought we had all gone back to the cabin and were okay. They didn’t realize we were stuck.”
Rutherford called again on Saturday to tell them they were still stuck.
Rutherford also had more provisions and shared with the Wileys, who were running out.
When the group found out that it would be Monday at the earliest before anyone was even going to attempt to get them, the men took matters into their own hands.
“We had a meeting to decide what to do,” Wiley said. “We decided that two of us would walk to the small CAT back down the road and get to the bigger CAT.”
Wiley and Rutherford walked five km in deep snow to Kilometre 55 and drove the small CAT to the bulldozer. Wiley had to break into the bulldozer, owned by logging contractor Bill Wilson.
The trucks were dug out at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday and the group left camp.
Even with the bulldozer clearing a path at the front of the convoy, it was slow going.
“Though the CAT pushing, several of the vehicles got stuck and had to be pulled out,” Rutherford said.
The convoy of vehicles reach the main road at 7:45 Sunday night.
“It took us six hours to drive 23 kilometres,” Wiley said. “Even with the CAT pushing.”
The group, meeting for breakfast at Pleasant Valley Monday morning, were reliving the adventure, including how Wiley had to break into the bulldozer that was their way out.
“Suddenly, the fellow eating behind us said that CAT was his,” Wiley said of meeting Bill Wilson in the restaurant. ““Bill was extremely gracious and understanding that we used his CAT.”
Not deterred by their adventure, half of the group set out again on Monday to continue hunting. Val Wiley and the kids were heading back home to Prince Rupert, while Kevin Wiley stayed back to get their trailer.
Although he’s thankful that they made it safe, Wiley said there were more people further down Morice River Road at the campsite.