What I Learned from Getting Caught in a Snowstorm at Night in the Montana Wilderness| Five-Minute Friday

The Morning After The Snowstorm



This is the story of what I learned from
getting caught in a snowstorm when things could have gone seriously wrong.



The sun has just set, it’s a snowstorm. We’re
at 10,000 feet, it’s getting dark, the snow is sticking to our skis. We don’t
have a map and we were still several miles from the fire tower that we are supposed
to be staying for the night. We are in the middle of the Montana wilderness and
we have just dug ourselves out of another hole because we have fallen off the
trail into neck-deep snow.



This was about ten years ago in Montana and
the reason we were caught in this situation in the first place was because of a
comedy of errors. They say accidents don’t happen because of one mistake, but
it is usually a series of little mistakes that lead to a big catastrophe. We
were very close to a big catastrophe!



We had to drive a couple of hours into the
mountains. We rented skis and found that they had given us two right boots. It
was far too late to head back to town to return the boots and come back to the
trail head and head to the fire tower.



We were committed to making it to the fire
tower so we decided to go ahead with the mismatched boots. We took the 15-mile
route to the mountains. Everything started off great.



When you are in shape and a seasoned outdoor
person, sometimes you overestimate your abilities and you don’t come prepared.
I was not prepared! We didn’t have a map and we had the wrong equipment. I far
overestimated our ability to get to the top. I estimated, three to four hours,
with breaks, to get up there. But, after six hours, we were still halfway! We
also knew that the fire road was going to end and we were going to have to do
the last three miles across open terrain to get to this fire tower.



This perfect storm of bad things started
happening. One, the snow was coming down. It was causing our skis to become
sticky with snow. All of a sudden, the skis became heavy. So, we had to take them
off and walked on the snow but it was not a good solution. We slowed down to
one mile an hour. The sun was setting and we couldn’t see the trail anymore. Luckily,
snowmobilers had gone and packed down the surface of the snow a week or a day
prior. So if we stayed within this narrow three-foot wide path, we wouldn’t
collapse down into the snow. And if we took one step off, we’d fall down into
this deep powder, which was exhausting. It was very treacherous. It was very dark,
and things were getting really dicey.



Here’s what was going through my head that
time: whenever I would think about getting stuck out there, we could build a
snow cave or we could just wait it out until morning. Or what happens if one of
us gets injured, or if we would run out of food and water? I was starting to
get worried. So, I forced myself to not worry. It helped showcase my thought
pattern in a really treacherous situation.



I often refer back to this thought patterns when
I am testing myself and taking risks, whether in business, or socially. I’m
thinking back on that really tough physical challenging situation. I knew that
I was fit and well-trained as an athlete, so I was confident that my body could
keep going if only I could manage my energy well and I kept a positive
attitude. So I was consciously directing my thoughts to keep myself in the
present moment and that really was just keeping one foot after the other trying
to stay on this little trail.



On the way up,