When help finally came for snowmobiler Dave Metcalfe, he’d almost given up hope it was coming at all.
It came Saturday around 20 hours after he’d dug a hole to shelter in place amid high winds, heavy snow drifts and freezing temperatures in the Cape Breton Highlands.
“I’ve been in the snow all night, I’m starting to be wet, starting to soak through, and I was frozen,” he said Sunday morning. “I really thought I was going to die there.”
Metcalfe left Glace Bay early Friday with his friend, Hughie Whalen, to go snowmobiling in the national park, a popular recreational site for enthusiasts in the area.
The weather wasn’t ideal, but the two forged ahead after driving nearly two hours to the trail head on Oregon Road in Victoria County.
But the two realized they were in trouble as they made their way back to their truck after nightfall. They began to encounter massive snow drifts in blizzard-like conditions.
Eventually, lost and with one sled stuck in the snow, they made the decision to split up, said Metcalfe. Whalen drove off on his snowmobile to seek help around 7 p.m.
Metcalfe hunkered down, digging a hole and using part of his snowmobile to shield himself from the wind.
But as the hours piled up and he couldn’t manage much sleep, he worried that the worst had happened to his friend.
“It’s like one of those things where you wake up from a dream and think, ‘Oh my God’, that was a terrible dream,” he said.
“Only anytime I nodded off and woke up, it just became more and more real.”
Whalen found first
By around 7 a.m., rescue crews had located Whalen and brought him to safety, but Metcalfe was still out there, unaware people were looking for him and that his friend had been found.
By 1 p.m., he was beginning to lose hope. He worried especially for his 76-year-old mother, who lost another son suddenly last month.
“I had it in my mind for the last hour or two that I’m 100 per cent … gonna freeze to death,” he said.
When he was finally located around 3 p.m., he could hardly believe what was happening.
“A couple of guys pulled up on a snowmobile,” he said. “I thought I was seeing things.”
They brought Metcalfe to the Pig and Whistle, a newly rebuilt shelter that has long been a mainstay in the Cape Breton Highlands.
When he got inside, a fire was roaring, and he was fed, hydrated, and given dry clothes to wear.
He’s thankful for the kindness of the people in the community who came together to make sure he got home safely.
“I’m a total stranger to these guys,” he said. “It’s so overwhelming.”
Lesson learned
Metcalfe said he’s been told he did almost everything right to ensure he survived.
He kept his snowsuit on the whole time, and the hole he dug helped limit the damage.
Whalen was in rougher condition when he was found earlier, his wife, Stephanie Whalen, said Sunday.
She said first responders found him sitting on the end of his sled, unresponsive, with his jacket undone and his visor up on his helmet.
He was suffering from hypothermia, she said, but is expected to make a full recovery.
“I’m lucky to have him back,” said Whalen. “I still get emotional just thinking about it.”
She’s hoping that this rescue sheds a light on the dangers of not taking weather conditions seriously.
“I know my husband learned a lesson,” she said.
“We don’t want to see people up there stranded, because I can’t imagine the fear that was in both Huey and Dave in the middle of the night, especially when they’re separated.”
