Greg Dyck says he started skiing at such a young age that he doesn’t even remember learning. But last Saturday he accidently took a wrong turn that almost cost him his life. He was enjoying his last run at Castle Mountain Resort near Pincher Creek.
“I found myself over the boundary line and made a fall and realized I was on the back of the mountain,” said Dyck.
The sun was about to set and the temperature dipped to a bone chilling -24 C. He says he was alone and worried and that he could not trek his way back in the dark, instead opting to build a snow cave.
“I put out my SOS in the snow and dug a cave,” adds Dyck. “It more or less kept the core warm and ended up with frost bite on the feet.”
According to Castle Mountain Resort, a skier was not reported missing until 11:00 pm and an immediate search of the resort was conducted, but they were unable to locate him.
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Steve Mundell who skis at Castle Mountain every weekend says Dyck is very fortunate to have made it through the cold night.
“We were watching the hockey game and it was – 26 C and we all went out and it was really cold. He’s a lucky guy that to have the know how to build a snow cave and to bunker down for the night.”
At 7:00 a.m. Sunday, crews began sweeping the mountain with the assistance of search dogs, Parks Canada, and a helicopter. Miraculously just after 9:00 a.m. when the sun rose Dyck was able to find his way back to the resort.
“In the morning when I saw first light and I got out of the cave and started walking towards the road when I reached road the helicopters were headed out and I tapped on the RCMP’s window and I said here I am,” smiles Dyck.
He blames the poor signage on the hill that led him down the wrong path, but according to Castle Mountain resort the signs on the hill are all clearly visible.
Castle Mountain provided this statement to Global News saying: “The ski area boundary is clearly marked with ‘ski area boundary’ signs. This identifies to skiers, what is inbounds and out of the ski area boundary. ”
Dyck adds “I would take a little more care from not getting separated from ski buddies and knowing the hill a little better than I did.”
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