Little different story from the sheriff:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 6, 2015
Contact: Mitch Alexander Sheriff
208-556-1150
malexander@shoshoneso.com
Barry Sadler, Missing Mullan Snowmobiler
On Monday night shortly before midnight, Monday January 5th, 54 year old Bary Sadler of Mullan was found by a group of 5 friends in Brimstone Creek which is approximately 4 air miles east of Lookout Pass Ski Area. Barry had last been seen by a friend at 3:00 pm Sunday afternoon at Ford Hill which is in Mineral County, Montana, just over the Idaho border. The Sheriff’s Office was notified Sunday night that he had not been heard from and was overdue. He was found after being out in some of the worst weather possible that went from blizzard like conditions that would cover your tracks in minutes to pouring rain. He had been gone for approximately 33 hours when he was finally located.
A joint search was done by Sheriff Tom Bower and the Mineral County Search and Rescue along with the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office, USFS, friends of Sadler and other snowmobilers from the Silver Valley. Northwest Back Country Rescue, based out of Post Falls, was also called in to assist with the search as well as the Shoshone County groomer.
The search team set out on foot late Monday night after seeing what appeared to be a single track leading down into Brimstone creek earlier in the search day. His friends resupplied and knew they had to make the trek on foot as snowmobiling in the steep terrain was not possible. The search team hiked for nearly 2 hours following the single track and finally heard Sadler’s snowmobile running. Sadler was found partially under the sled with an emergency blanket over him using the heat from the sleds engine to keep warm.
Sadler was severely dehydrated and soaking wet. The crew got him into dry clothes and then got him fluids and food. The team attempted to start a fire using road flares but due to the wet conditions they were unable to get one going. At that point they assisted Sadler in hiking out of the area, but it was very slow going. They said if you didn’t stay on the snowmobile track you would be up to your arm pits in brush and snow. It took the team over 5 hours to hike out to their sleds at Ford Hill where it was a short trip to Sadler’s home.
Sadler said he was riding up from Ford Hill on top of Taft Peak where he got mixed up in the Brimstone drainage that has an odd dog leg in it. He said that he got to the bottom of a gulch where all of the brush prevented him from getting any traction with his sled. He left his sled and was attempting to walk out when he realized he may not be in the area that he thought he was in and that his only chance of survival was getting back to his sled. He expended all of his energy breaking through the brush and sinking up to his chest in the snow. After fighting his way back to his sled he remained there where he would run his sled intermittently for warmth. He said the sled automatically runs for a minute and a half and then shuts down. He said he was so weak he barely had the energy to pull the draw cord on it to keep it going at times. He said that he was drinking water off of his hood, but it was not nearly enough. His hands and his feet were swollen from the cold.
Sadler said he learned a valuable lesson from this ordeal. He didn’t plan to be out long, so he did not take his survival pack with his avalanche beacon and other provisions with him. He said he also plans on buying a Spot Satellite GPS Messenger. The device can send messages of distress and will give searchers the coordinates for a rescue.
Sadler’s sled was left in the area, but plans are in place to winch the sled up to a point that it can be safely ridden out of the drainage.
Mitch Alexander, Shoshone County Sheriff