Survival Trick Keeps Stranded Family Alive in Nevada Wilderness
OutdoorHub Reporters 12.11.13
James Glanton, 34, and his girlfriend Christina McIntee, 25, were planning for a snow-filled vacation for their family in northern Nevada’s rugged mountains, but received more than they bargained for. According to NBC News, the couple, their two children and McIntee’s niece and nephew were 100 miles northeast of Reno on Sunday when their vehicle overturned and rolled onto its roof into a crevice by a dirt road. Miles away from help, officials say that the family’s decision to stay with the car and Glanton’s survival knowledge made all the difference in keeping them alive in the frigid Nevada wilderness.
Unable to operate the overturned vehicle, the family of six huddled inside the car for two days before being found by rescue workers. Authorities report that it was as cold as 21 degrees Fahrenheit below zero on the first night, and even lower on the second. Even inside their car, the family was very much at danger of exposure. Most at risk were the children, who ranged in age from three to 10. Glanton and McIntee prioritized keeping the inside of the car warm.
“It was a function of staying alive until they were found,” survival expert Peter Kummerfeldt told the Reno Gazette-Journal. “Every hour that goes by gets a little more critical.”
Glanton canvassed the area and gathered brush and wood, and then built a fire beside the family’s makeshift shelter. As the temperatures dipped below zero on that first night, Glanton had the idea of heating rocks with the fire and placing them inside the car’s spare tire. This tactic allowed the family a means of warming the interior of the vehicle without having to step outside, a trick that rescue workers called “ingenious.”
“I have never heard of such a thing, but I think it was pretty clever of him,” search team leader Paul Burke with the Nevada Department of Public Safety told CNN. “To the extent he was ingenious about it, that is one for the books.”
Experts said it was also wise that neither adult decided to venture off to find help. The US Civil Air Patrol search team that found the family and survival experts agree that the adults made the right call in staying with the vehicle. The car offered an instant shelter and presented a highly visible target for rescue workers. Since the family was preparing for a winter vacation, heavy coats and extra clothes provided an additional layer to ward off the cold. Experts say the odds are that if Glanton or McIntee left on their own, rescue workers would have been searching for a body instead of a rescue.
When they were found on Tuesday, authorities reported that every member of the family was in healthy condition and that no one suffered any major injuries.
