Lake County rescuers save Swan Lake snowmobilers
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SWAN LAKE — Lake County Search and Rescue saved two Swan Lake area snowmobilers Jan. 11 after the pair became stranded at night in 7-below-zero weather.
Lake County dispatch received a call at 8:17 p.m. regarding a pair of snowmobilers stranded at the top of Crane Mountain.
“They went off the trail down a steep embankment and the snow was really deep so they were having problems getting their machines back up the hill,” Lake County Undersheriff Dan Yonkin said.
The snowmobilers were able to call 911 and give rescue personnel GPS coordinates of their location, which aided search efforts greatly.
“It was really cold,” Yonkin said. “That was the night the sky cleared off and, yea, it was very cold. About negative 7 degrees.”
Search and rescue personnel made contact with the stranded men around 11:30 p.m. No medical attention was required, and both men returned safely home later that night.
“That’s what search and rescue is all about,” Yonkin said. “Had (Lake County Search and Rescue) not been there, I don’t know how that would have turned out. Probably not very well.”
Yonkin said that given the area’s mountainous terrain, search and rescue personnel in the Swan Lake area have extensive training on snowmobiles.
Yonkin said the best ways for snowmobilers to stay safe are to tell people where they are going and when to expect them back; keep a communication line (such as a cell phone) with them at all times; stay on the trails; don’t snowmobile in an area you’re unfamiliar with; know the conditions in the area; and don’t take risks.
“It’s not good enough to just know the area,” Yonkin said. “I might know one of these bowls out here, but if I don’t know the conditions, I could cause an avalanche.”
