Wet, cold snowboarders found out of bounds

Four snowboarders who got lost late Saturday afternoon after wandering out of bounds at Whitefish Mountain Resort were located in extremely cold and rough shape about 9 p.m.

The Flathead Nordic Ski Patrol found the four men from Minnesota, all in their 20s, in the Hellroaring Creek drainage below Chair 8 (formerly known as Chair 11).

The snowboarders had been on the skier traverse to Chair 2 when they veered off and down past the chairlift toward Hellroaring Creek. Once they realized they were lost, the four men tried to work their way down the drainage. Two of them fell into the creek.

The snowboarders called for help with a cell phone about 5 p.m. when they were within sight of Whitefish Lake, about one mile above East Lakeshore Drive.

Flathead County Search and Rescue gave the GPS coordinates of the cell phone to the Nordic Ski Patrol’s first team of three skiers, but the snowboarders had moved by the time the ski patrollers got to that location.

Soon after, the Nordic Ski Patrol’s second team of five skiers located the lost snowboarders. The rescuers started a fire and gave the snowboarders dry clothes. The first team then arrived with snowshoes for the four men to use.

The snowboarders were guided up to the base of Chair 8 about 10:30 p.m. where two resort groomers were brought in to transport them. The group arrived at the ski resort clinic near the Base Lodge, where they were warmed up again before being released.