The Oxymoron Blog

This time Bear puts himself into position of a lost skier in the Alaskan Mountain Range. A helicopter brought him on top of a mountain with skis, a knife,  a water bottle and a flint. He has to find his way back to civilization.

First he had to get down the mountain and with the skis this was quite an easy part. He only had to “read the snow” to decide which way to go and which parts would be too risky due to avalanches. He used his skis  to descend almost 5000 ft. He tried to reach a small stream at the end of the glacier to get off the dangerous ice. But first he had to cross large ice fields and walking in ski boots was very exhausting. It was exciting when Bear decided to go through a ice tunnel to get down to the stream. The water had formed such large cavities that he could use them but they are extremely unstable. After that he was off the glacier.

He was heading down to the forest without the ski boots, he used just the inners alone. It wasn’t perfect but better than nothing. In the area he was hiking live lot of bears and the safest way to travel alone is to make noises so that the bears are warned and know that someone is coming.

Another huge obstacle was a 200ft waterfall he had to overcome. Because Bear is a experienced climber he started climbing down the cliff. The water was freezing cold and the pressure of the falling water made the descent even harder. It was important to use the legs and not the arms while climbing and you should never be in a rush. The stones were very slippery but the time he saved by climbing down instead of bypassing the waterfall was worth the risk. 

Now it was time to build the shelter and make a fire. The first day was over.

On the second day he followed the river several miles until he reached a lake. In the river mouth he spotted lots of salmon. This would be the ideal food after these hard days ! He made a spear and tried to round them up in the shallow water. There were hundreds of them and he managed to catch one with his spear. He grabbed the fish with his hands and bite right into the raw body!

Never saw that before but Bear said that it tastes delicious

The third day he found a abandoned lodge at the coast line of the lake and for his surprise a small but old boat. You have to be open for every opportunity in these situations. The idea was to take this boat and paddle to the other side of the lake because there was another glacier and a beautiful landscape. He thought that there could be touring boats with tourists or fisherboats which would spot him on the sea.

When he reached the beginning of the glacier the icebergs were large and sharp. They damaged the boat so heavily that in almost a minute he had to swim to a near small boulder island. It was essential that he put off his jacket during the time the boat was sinking because otherwise the heavy clothes would have drawn him down. 

The water was extremely cold and most people get heart attacks because of the temperature shock. The island he stranded was in a good position for being rescued. He had an overview of the whole coastline and sea and so a few hours later he was spotted by a boat and was rescued.