M A Y / J U N E - 1 9 9 8

	The dotted line shows the trail the snowboarders blazed to the top of Mt. Mansfield when a freak winter storm sent them mistakenly down the wrong side of the mountain.

The Snow Storm
When the three snowboarders neared the mountain top, a snow storm hit. Temperatures dropped below zero. Winds blew at gale force.
"It was a white out," he said.
Snowboarding as fast as they could, Daniel and his companions headed down the mountain. Ice formed on his goggles and he couldn't see. When he took off his goggles to clean them, his eyes froze shut in the wind.
Painfully he opened his eyes and kept going. He had lost sight of his companions. He tried to dodge the shadows that he knew were trees. Then he fell.
"Snowboarding is sort of like surfing," Dan explained. "In surfing, you need momentum to stay above the water. It's the same with snowboarding. When I lost my momentum, I couldn't regain it."
Daniel found himself waist deep in snow. He used his board to wedge himself back onto the surface. Then sitting on his snowboard, he paddled himself farther down the mountain.
He fell again. This time the snow was up to his neck. Again he pried himself to the surface and kept going.
The storm stopped. But Daniel still couldn't see. He realized night had fallen.
"I never saw the sun go down," he said.
Weak and tired, Daniel called out several times. It seemed strange that he had not seen other people on the mountain. He seemed to be utterly alone. He pushed himself and his board toward a small light in the distance. But it didn't seem to be drawing near.
Daniel knew he was in trouble. He thought about what he would look like when they found him-frozen and stiff. He thought about his funeral. He thought about his friends and his family.
When he saw a rock jutting out and overhanging the mountain, he put his snowboard underneath it and lay down. Exhausted, he fell asleep.

Long Walk to Nowhere
The light of the rising sun woke him up. It was morning. Daniel got up and began walking again. He was sure now that something was very wrong. He should be seeing trails and people. Instead all he saw was more trees.
Daniel walked on. He came to a creek and followed it. He broke through the ice once, but already wet to the skin, he didn't feel the cold water.
"I think I could have made it through one more night," he said later from the safety of Gallaudet University. "But not two more nights. I couldn't have made two more nights."
He set small goals for himself-just reach that tree up ahead, just reach the next tree, then the next.

Rescued!
For no apparent reason, Daniel looked back. He saw two people-cross country skiers making their way through the forest. He called out and they came to him. They were Cathy and Mike, an older hearing couple. Cathy went to call 911 and Mike helped him make his way to the road.

	Daniel back at Gallaudet.

A truck came by and Daniel and Mike lumbered aboard.
"I knew I would be fine when Mike gave me a hug," said Daniel.
At the hospital, Daniel learned that 100 people had been looking for him and his companions. In the confusion of the storm all three of them had headed in the wrong direction-away from the ski resort and down a deserted side of the mountain.
Daniel's parents came first, and then his friends-Melissa Kononenko, David Plonski, and Andrew Sulock. As they left the hospital, Daniel saw the other two snowboarders, who had just been rescued by helicopter.
So they were all safe. But the night lost and alone in cruel winter snow has affected Daniel profoundly.
"I downplay it with my friends," he said. "But my goals about life crystallized."
"I take school more seriously now."

General comments may be sent to: Ken.Kurlychek@gallaudet.edu
Last modified June 1, 1998
Copyright © 1997, All Rights Reserved
Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center

Gallaudet University 800 Florida Ave. NE Washington, DC 20002-3695