[swamppapa]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/4...in-alaska-blizzard/ar-BBZDMol?ocid=spartanntp

good news
they went for ride. article does say what sort of gear they had, or if they were helped by a "bear"

wish they had gone into the sort of lifestyle they were raised in.

 

[Mtnman Mike]

Something just doesn't seem right and here is a quote from the link: "According to officials, the children were identified as Christopher Johnson, 14, Frank Johnson, 8, Ethan Camille, 7, and Trey Camille, 2."

“It immediately brought me to tears,” Alphonso Thomas, the father of 2-year-old Trey, told KTUU of the children’s rescue. “I never would have thought that he would make it. Being two and with weather like that, people usually don’t make it … tough kids, all of them.”


I can see maybe the 14 yo and older going out on a snowmobile but those under 12 should have had a parent or at least an adult with them.

 

[ClovisMan]

If you've never been to Alaska then you just can't understand. They are totally different group of folks. That 14 year old probably had a full beard and chewed RedMan.

 

[Mtnman Mike]

If you've never been to Alaska then you just can't understand. They are totally different group of folks. That 14 year old probably had a full beard and chewed RedMan.

Fine for the 14 year old but a Two year old had to go with them without one of the parents?

Another quote from the article: "According to the Alaska Department of Public Safety, the four missing kids were located 18 miles away from their small rural village of Nunam Iqua on Monday afternoon. The children were then transported in a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter to a local hospital, where they are now being treated for “severe hypothermia.”

I have seen a lot of people riding snowmobiles in remote Wyoming and there was always an adult with children... But if they are so tough going so far from town with the big chance of a blizzard then ok I guess.
Maybe the parents didn't know they were going off with the 2 year old? Always more to a story than is being told in short articles.

 

[BabyBlue]

Yeah, no. Any responsible Mama doesn't let the big kids take the littles on an 18 mile snowmobile ride without adults. Under 12s don't go on possible dangerous jaunts with the bigger kids, and under 5s stay where Mom or Dad are. They have no stamina, strength or body mass to help them survive. Even piled together like a wad of puppies for warmth they were simply graced by God that 2yr old survived.

 

[Mtnman Mike]

Yeah, no. Any responsible Mama doesn't let the big kids take the littles on an 18 mile snowmobile ride without adults. Under 12s don't go on possible dangerous jaunts with the bigger kids, and under 5s stay where Mom or Dad are. They have no stamina, strength or body mass to help them survive. Even piled together like a wad of puppies for warmth they were simply graced by God that 2yr old survived.

I also was wondering if there are car seats for toddlers on snowmobiles and just looked it up and there are. But the 8 yo was probably holding the 2 yo on that snowmobile.

Years ago I would not have cared too much but since I turned 60 about two years ago and also lost two toes from frost bite and infection, I hate to see stories like this with children getting injured. And “severe hypothermia” which those kids had is being at least a bit injured. Lucky they are still alive.
I can show my amputation pics if any missed them and need more proof of what winter can do?

Btw, over last weekend, 3 days even I was snowmobiling and snowshoeing around my mtn place with an 86 yo guy who has a huge cabin half a mile from my land. He was wise enough to have me come along. He drove one and I drove his other snowmobile. He got stuck and it was not easy getting a stuck snowmobile out of a drift. I doubt a lot of Alaska is too much worse than many parts of the Rocky Mountains such as remote WY and Montana. I know Alaska is vast but people can die just a mile off of a road in winter time.

 

[Mtnman Mike]

Here is a longer version of the story with a pic of them also. Had to disable adblocker but otherwise this tells more and the mother said they just went out for a short ride etc etc. > https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...ar-old-disappeared-Alaska-blizzard-alive.html

 

[ajole]

That was what I thought happened. Just out screwing around, no intention to go too far, mom thinks you're just playing in the "yard" basically; and suddenly, the weather sets in, you get turned around but stay on the gas, and it just gets worse.

Seriously, as a kid, we ALWAYS were further from home than mom and dad thought we were.

 

[NW GUY]

If you've never been to Alaska then you just can't understand. They are totally different group of folks. That 14 year old probably had a full beard and chewed RedMan.

:thumb::::

 

[NW GUY]

Yeah, no. Any responsible Mama doesn't let the big kids take the littles on an 18 mile snowmobile ride without adults. Under 12s don't go on possible dangerous jaunts with the bigger kids, and under 5s stay where Mom or Dad are. They have no stamina, strength or body mass to help them survive. Even piled together like a wad of puppies for warmth they were simply graced by God that 2yr old survived.

YOU REALLY have never been with bush folks have you?
They grow up faster and have a better understanding of nature and dangers than you will ever achieve.

Do you think kids from Denver, or NYC or SF would have fared that well, or would they have all been dead?
Their kids do things as a course of "business as usual" that would scare a helicopter mom to death.

 

[bunkerbuster]

Remote village & natives that lived in it all their lives. They went for a "little" snow-cat ride & you can go pretty far on a snow-cat PDQ (18 miles isn't that far). Weather turned bad quickly, as blizzards with white-outs can also happen PDQ.

They were smart to find shelter & hunker down.

That's Alaska (I was born & raised there off-grid)

Hell, as young kids (without adults) we used to go snow-cat camping -20F, find a big solid snow drift, tunnel in & shelter for the night.

Outback in Alaska is a whole differing world & so are many that live there.

 

[swamppapa]

even around here teenagers will take their younger cousins for ATV rides. a 14 to 2 year old spread isn't that big a deal.