Rescuers reached the riders on their cellphone and encouraged them to stay with their machine and await rescue.

VSAR members located the subjects’ truck after dark, and sent a team of seven searchers to find them. Conditions were cold with clear skies. There was recent fresh snowfall and an avalanche assessment showed moderate to considerable risk in the area, VSAR posted on its Facebook page Sunday night.

Within two hours, the search team arrived at the subjects’ location and was surprised to find they had “excavated a hole in the snow the size of a truck,” says the search team leader. “Despite their hard work, they weren’t able to free their machine. Working together, our search team was able to lift their snowmobile out of the hole, and we all drove back out.”

The two were cold, exhausted and extremely thankful. “Thanks to you guys, we made it out! Can’t tell you guys how much we appreciated the help,” said one of the subjects.

VSAR says the two individuals were lucky to have cellphone service in the area, and even though they called for help as soon as they were in trouble, they were forced to spend hours in the cold. 

"There is no such thing as 'just a short ride' when accidents or emergencies happen. Don’t make the mistake of leaving without extra clothing, fire starting tools, food and water – every time," VSAR posted.