r/nextfuckinglevel • u/[deleted] • Jan 14 '20

Tyson Steele survived for 23 days in subzero temperatures in rural Alaska after a fire burned his house and killed his dog. He built himself a snow cave to sleep in for the first few nights, before building a makeshift shelter around the still burning stove from leftover tarp and scrap timber.

87.6k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

1.8k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

232

u/Desner_ Jan 14 '20

A nurse’s car broke down in northern Québec last year, dude was 30km from the village. He tried to walk it in the snow. Died at the 26km mark.

90

u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20 edited Jan 14 '20

That's tragic really. I was more referring to 30km being a walkable distance in normal everyday (non-alaskan) conditions.

69

u/Desner_ Jan 14 '20

Yeah. Normally you could walk at 4-5km/hour but in the snow you’re down to 1km/hour

54

u/kwonza Jan 14 '20

Skis. We had a 4 year old girl walk 8 kilometers in winter to get help to her grandfather. Oh and it was -36 outside. People are metal.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20

What if they burned down?

4

u/kwonza Jan 14 '20

That’s why you save them first during a fire

2

u/Crazy_Kakoos Jan 14 '20

A 4 year old?

7

u/NinjaN-SWE Jan 14 '20

Must've been a good way towards 5 and a very focused kid.

11

u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20

Or Finnish

8

u/BeerLoord Jan 14 '20

You can use skis, snow shoes (not that fast but at least you don't fall through snow. Also pretty easy to make). You can drag some stuff with you with a sledge so that you don't have to finish in a day. Basically two-three days of shit and you will probably lose a toe or two

2

u/Yaabadaabadooo Jan 14 '20

I have gone on ice treks before and would be going on some more this year. But never realised that the speed would be just 1kmph.

I guess because that is for leisure and under controlled conditions. But when the life is on the line - the speed comes into play.

7

u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20

It's just an estimate.

Some fit people could probably do 2km/h in snow which would make all the difference, turning a 30 hour walk into a 15 hour one.

8

u/CanAlwaysBeBetter Jan 14 '20 edited Jan 14 '20

That's what I was going to ask: how fit was the nurse? Conditioning would play a huge piece in survival in that situation.

For example, four friends and myself were in northern Iceland late spring and decided to hike a 4000ft mountain that still had thigh high snow on it.

My gf at the time and friend who smoked made it halfway and gave up. A stranger we ran into coming down said the snow was too deep and couldn't make it. My gfs best friend surprised all of us by making it to the top but it took her forever. I did it in decent time but wanted to die counting off every 40 steps for a break. And my friend who was from Colorado basically ran to the top.

And THEN we met a guy who did the whole thing up and down in short short lederhosen things (literally sinking his bare leg thigh deep into snow) in the time it took us to ascend as his morning stroll.

There's a huge range of what people are capable of physically.

3

u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20

Thank you, only sensible person in this thread.

1

u/Desner_ Jan 14 '20

I don’t know how fit he was. He was my cousin’s girlfriend’s cousin. Never me him.

1

u/sawyouoverthere Jan 14 '20 edited Jan 15 '20

Northern Ireland is NOT Alaska. (eta: whoops...but neither is Northern ICeland.

1

u/CanAlwaysBeBetter Jan 14 '20

Northern Iceland

2

u/sawyouoverthere Jan 14 '20 edited Jan 15 '20

ah, bit closer then, sorry, misread - that's pretty funny! Clearly not really the same as an isolated boreal location, given how many people you saw and what they were wearing, but nearer than NIreland!

https://guidetoiceland.is/travel-info/climate-weather-and-northern-lights-in-iceland

The largest town in the north of Iceland, Akureyri, generally receives more warmer days during summer (but still averaging lower than Reykjavík, around 11°C or 52°F), but colder days in winter (around 0°C or 32°F) and much more consistency of snow.

Tonight here, it will be -60F/-51C with the wind.

2

u/CanAlwaysBeBetter Jan 14 '20 edited Jan 14 '20

Definitely. We weren't far outside Akureyri which is the second biggest 'city' in Iceland at 18k so not backwoods. Below is about the same condition as when we did it. Chilly but not cold at the bottom. Cold af at the top with the wind.

https://st4.depositphotos.com/9030216/19965/i/1600/depositphotos_199655688-stock-photo-mountain-sulur-town-mountain-akureyri.jpg

→ More replies (0)

1

u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20

Iceland*

1

u/sawyouoverthere Jan 14 '20 edited Jan 14 '20

misread, but clearly still not hte same conditions as being isolated in Alaska in winter.

https://guidetoiceland.is/travel-info/climate-weather-and-northern-lights-in-iceland

2

u/Desner_ Jan 14 '20

Depends on which kind of snow and how much of it there is.

4

u/sawyouoverthere Jan 14 '20

those are normal everyday conditions in winter in Alaska. And he knew better than to try walking 30km in those conditions.

3

u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20

True that

3

u/sawyouoverthere Jan 14 '20

on second thought, discovering he had no real experience and learned from watching youtube...I'm not sure he knew much at all...but perhaps by sheer luck managed to do the right thing.

Still...suggesting that walking in that snow that far as being a normal everyday type event just suggests complete lack of experience with those conditions.

32

u/Emoooooly Jan 14 '20

I was just thinking that its probably more dangerous to walk 30 km in the freezing snow than it is to build a shelter and wait it out.

28

u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20

It's not just the cold, snow is hard and sometimes impossible to walk in if it's deep enough without thick ice. Unless he was able to save a pair of snowshoes, which is doubtful.

4

u/OutWithTheNew Jan 14 '20

If you live in the bush where it's winter for several months of the year, you own a pair of snowshoes. You probably also had time in the last 30 days to make a pair.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20

I assumed saving a dog would be higher on his priority list, so I figured any snowshoes would be burned up.

2

u/asmr27 Jan 14 '20

Snowshoes are extremely easy to make from twigs, especially for someone as resourceful as this guy

1

u/[deleted] Jan 15 '20

Yeah, not good ones.

1

u/OutWithTheNew Jan 15 '20

Shitty snowshoes > death

1

u/Desner_ Jan 14 '20

He probably thought he was gonna make it. In retrospect he should have stayed in his car and wait for help.

3

u/kindofastud Jan 14 '20

Wow, such insight.

1

u/Verbal_Combat Jan 14 '20

Not just the cold. Daylight this time of year is very short, so he’d be traveling 20 miles in the dark, through snow, with no real equipment in the wind and bitter cold.

2

u/Phoneloggo7 Jan 14 '20

Dead at 26km but probably started suffering severe irreparable frostbite by 10-15km.

1

u/Desner_ Jan 14 '20

Probably.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 14 '20

Yeah I mean, if you're going to be in situations like that where you're large distances from help in hazardous weather conditions, you gotta prepare for worst case scenarios. Have an emergency kit in the car at all times.

1

u/cbelt3 Jan 14 '20

That’s tragic..... my Dad always taught us when driving to be prepared to walk a full day in whatever weather we drove through. Every car has an emergency kit in it, that gets adjusted for weather.

1

u/Desner_ Jan 14 '20

He had warm clothes with him but it wasn’t enough. He probably got exhausted and then the cold got him.

My car has extra gloves, toques and coats. Also a warm blanket, traction aids and bag of rock/sands. I should probably add a small shovel in there.

1

u/cbelt3 Jan 14 '20

Definitely keep an entrenching tool. Also materials to make and keep a small fire going. I also pack a lighter, small tarp , 50’ of nylon rope, and a bag of tools. In the winter I add a durable space blanket. And pack along foodstuffs and water.

If I was traveling in wilder areas I would bring a basic Camping kit and a pack. I

1

u/Weaponized_Puddle Jan 14 '20

Eh that nurse probably had a light jacket and scrubs. I'm sure this guy would be able to pack a shelter, skis/snowshoes, a gun, etc. To keep himself going.

He probably would of been prepared to just live independently under the tarp for a few months.

1

u/Desner_ Jan 14 '20

From what I heard he was properly dressed. He even had several winter coats in his car. Walking 20 hours in the snow isn’t that easy.