Chile — One wrong turn created a world of pain for a snowboarder in the Chilean backcountry.
During a ski trip at Valle Nevado, a snowboarder accidentally stumbled into the backcountry. After taking a right turn off the Tres Puntas at Valle Nevado, Miguel Chapa found terrain that looked fun, but it actually led to a steep chute that also featured a cliff drop. He had to climb out of the chute, which is when he recognized how far he had wandered out of bounds.
After regaining cell service, he called for help. Patrollers told him he’d have to wait until morning for a rescue, so he built a fort and waited it out. After a long night of shivering, ski patrol found him and got him out of the area. Even the walk out wasn’t easy, as a snowstorm made getting out difficult. He managed to get the whole survival story on his phone camera, which probably didn’t help his cold limbs.
Commenters were critical of the snowboarder, with one top comment calling him the “Jerry of the decade.” Some argued he could have hiked out to get out of the situation, while others criticized the snow-eating (a move that can lead to poisoning and lower body temperature). Here was his response to the social media backlash:
“For all of y’all saying I would have made it out during the day if I just put my phone away and stopped wasting time, no I wouldn’t have I had to hike another 8 hours the next day back up to tres puntas lift where I came from that was the only way back and simply just riding down would have led to nowhere. Obviously it was a major Jerry move end up there in the first place but i thought it was part of the resort I took a wrong turn, shit happens. Thank you to everyone saying they’re glad I made it out alive definitely learned a lot.”
One of the more reasonable comments was the following:
“Can’t believe all the hate in these comments. You clearly got lost which happens, ended up in hard to navigate terrain and got insanely lucky to have cell service. This should be a lesson to everyone watching that you should always look at the maps of where you’re skiing and to always ski with a buddy when you’re in advanced terrain. Please don’t ski alone bro, super happy you made it out ok.”
The moral of the story: DON’T TAKE A RIGHT AFTER RIDING THE TRES PUNTAS LIFT AT VALLE NEVADO. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
Image/Video Credits: @chapagolfs, Valle Nevado
