Les's Lessons Learned

Lost in the rugged wilderness of Manitoba's Interlake region without food, water or gas for his snowmobile, Chris Traverse knew he was in deep trouble.

After getting through one bone-chilling night in the remote woods, he saw a sign of civilization - a light on a telephone tower way off on the horizon. Getting there would take days, but he was determined to do it. "I kept on walking. From dusk to dawn, I walked through snow that was waist-deep for three days," Traverse said on Thursday from a relative's house in Gypsumville, 250 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.

The ordeal started last Friday, when Traverse, a 24-year-old construction worker, became separated from friends while snowmobiling.

He took a couple of turns, thinking he was heading back toward his group, but ended up some 30 km north in "a huge open field in the middle of nowhere," without any landmarks to guide him.

With his snowmobile out of gas and no survival training to fall back on, Traverse thought back to one of his TV favourite shows, "Survivorman," for help.

The show, which airs in several countries, features Canadian Les Stroud surviving in extreme wilderness situations for seven days at a stretch.

"I broke off spruce tree branches and made a shelter out of them, and made a bed," Traverse said.

"I made sure I was in the bush before I went to bed because it was cold in the open fields."

With the temperature dipping to -10 C at night, Traverse managed to stay warm even though he didn't have a fire.

He would occasionally see or hear search teams in the distance, but couldn't get their attention.

"I never gave up hope. I had it in me to keep on walking," he said.

"I seen the planes go by a couple of times. They were directly above me."

Through sheer determination he eventually got to the telephone tower, starving and unable to signal for help.

On Wednesday, he found a highway and made his first human contact since getting lost.

The first vehicle to come along was a car heading north, the opposite direction from Traverse's home. The driver helped Traverse flag down the next southbound vehicle, a Greyhound bus bound for Gypsumville, where the bus station happens to be a restaurant.

"He stopped in and he asked for the phone," said restaurant owner Bob Szklaruk.

"I said 'You're that Chris guy who's lost', and he says 'Yeah."'

Szklaruk called the RCMP and cooked up a burger, fries and some chicken soup for the hungry man, but the soup was the only thing Traverse's weakened stomach could handle.

Mounties say the survival story is unusual.

"In the wintertime especially, when you look at a young man being lost out there in a vast territory after four days, the possibilities of becoming a different type of operation, a recovery operation rather than a search operation, does cross our mind," Sgt. Line Karpish said.

The ordeal made Traverse's mother sick with worry, but instinct told her that her son was alive.

"A mother knows when your child is gone, and I just didn't feel that loss. I just felt pain for him being out there on his own with no resources," Loretta Traverse said.

"I was aching for him to come back, looking at the (rescue) crews that were going out each hour looking for him to come back on one of the Ski-doos."

Despite his ordeal, Traverse spent only one night in hospital getting rest and fluids. He was supposed to stay for three days, but was anxious to be with family.

His mother felt the same way.

"I'm not going to let him go, let him out of my sight," she laughed.

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A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

Good story. It's more in depth that what I've heard before. Smile

Lesson learned: don't rely on things that use fuel or batteries. Always have a backup plan if they happen to break. Cool

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yea haven't read that one before. yea never relay on modern stuff. Smile

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I just heard something big crack�.. holy crap!-Les Stroud

better to fail at something you love then to succeed in something you hate.

Great article....Thanks for posting it Dave. Cool

Good stuff. Cool

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Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. - Prov. 27:17

Great find Dave, very cool to know that people out there are not just watching the show, but applying it also!

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-Thou may'st break, but shalt not bend me.

-Idleness brings want
To work today is to eat tomorrow
It is best to prepare for the days of necessity

-Till shade is gone, till water is gone, into the Shadow with teeth bared, screaming defiance with the last breath, to spit in Sightblinder's eye on the Last Day.

I would imagine so, if I was the creator that would be my goal Smile

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"There dosen't look like there's much shelter over in those mountains, but that's the only choice I got right now, this is gonna be a long week" - Les Stroud Arctic

I'm another one of those "I should thank Les guys." Back in may I was hiking around 11,000 ft in Rocky Mountain National Park and fell down a ridge face into powder snow so fine I could only swim in it and of course I had to head downhill. I found myself surrounded by monster drifts and luckily I had a topo and compass so I made my way slowly through the snow. It was exhausting and nightfall caught me soaking wet with sweat and exhausted. I had to stop and bivy for the night. I had a piece of closed cell foam with me to use as a seat during breaks during the hike. I ended up sleeping on it with my feet in double plastic boots and crampons in the snow. I did make a fire (using Les's advice I found dry tinder under a log in the snow) and I had a dry poly shirt which I put on as soon as I stopped. Plus I had a very light goosedown jacket/undershirt which I put on. It was a little bit of an uncomfortable night but I stayed warm enough and early the next morning I found the trail back down the mountain. 30 hours in total for that hike. Thank you Les.

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Never step on what you can step over. Never step over what you can walk around.

Crazy little adventure there " teledaveaustin " Cool

Welcome aboard. Feel free to ask any questions or give imput. Cheers

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A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

wow what a time glad you made it out.

yea like you I had to thank Les many times for small things but necessary things. I thanked him in my mind. Very Happy

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I just heard something big crack�.. holy crap!-Les Stroud

better to fail at something you love then to succeed in something you hate.

Glad everything worked out for you teledaveaustin. Cool

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Welcome Teledaveaustin and great to hear another story of someone making it out because of tips they picked up from Les' show. Kinda proof to all that shows like this are a beneficial thing and not just for entertainment.

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We only have one Earth, take care of her and she will take care of you. ~ probably someone else

Interesting story, teledaveaustin. Cool

Welcome to our humble forum. Very Happy

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Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. - Prov. 27:17

yeah welcome. Very Happy

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I just heard something big crack�.. holy crap!-Les Stroud

better to fail at something you love then to succeed in something you hate.