Rescuers' knowledge saved man's life

A few weeks ago, I made a mistake that could have cost me my life.

On March 15, I was up at Schweitzer Mountain boarding for the day. I was getting ready to head down but I didn’t want to take the bus.

I decided to try and take the South Bowl ridge down to the power lines but made a big mistake. I was by myself and in the middle of a giant storm. I couldn’t even see  my  hand in front of me, but I still decided to  go down. The further I went down, the more I could see.

I knew I needed to head left but by the time I figured that out it was too late. I was already two ridges too far to the right and stuck in a valley. I hiked for six hours trying to get out and got stuck in three tree wells.

I am experienced in the outdoors and in backcountry boarding and I have a survival backpack but I didn’t bring it.

Schweitzer has an out-of-bounds sign for a reason, and I am a prime example. The Schweitzer crew and Bill Williamson did an amazing job to find me. Their safety, experience and knowledge of the mountain saved my life. They took their time and I inconvenienced them for a stupid mistake. The consequences could have been a lot more severe than they were. I cannot give thanks enough to Schweitzer and all the crew who found me out there.

ANDREW ROCKWELL

Sandpoint