An injured snowshoer survived more than 30 hours in the cold after she got lost in the Boulder County backcountry. CBS Denver reports the 47-year-old Boulder resident left from the Eldora Nordic Center for a solo snowshoeing excursion on the Jenny Creek Trail on Sunday morning. Her family reported her missing the next day. Using cellphone forensics to ping her phone, The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office found her 200 feet off of Jenny Creek Trail after an 8 hour search. The cellphone was the key to finding her:
“That actually turned out to be very beneficial for us, helped us direct resources to the right area. Once we had that information we started to get resources over into the area where the cellphone information was. I was surprised that she survived the night. She was talking to us, it was a huge pick me up for everyone.” –Jeff Sparhawk with Rocky Mountain Rescue
The woman had sustained serious injuries and was extricated from via snowmobile and then took a helicopter flight to a hospital. Great reminder to make sure your cellphone has a full charge before entering a potential survival situation and bringing along a backup battery in your kit is a wise move. Hats off to all the S&R personnel involved: