Snowshoer burns cash to survive US blizzard
Source: Agencies |
January 19, 2012, Thursday
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A SNOWSHOER who was lost in a blizzard for two days on Washington state's Mount Rainier in the US said he stayed alive by digging out a snow tunnel and burning dollar bills for warmth.
Yong Chun Kim, 66, of Tacoma, said he carried a lighter and other emergency supplies and burned personal items: extra socks, Band-Aids, toothbrush, packaging, and lastly US$1 and US$5 bills from his wallet.
Kim, who served in the military in the Vietnam War, told KOMO-TV in Seattle that skills he learned as a soldier helped him survive. He said he wasn't scared. He kept waiting for the sounds of the helicopter - though severe weather conditions prevented park officials from using one to search for Kim.
"I'm a lucky man, a really lucky man," he said on Tuesday from his home.
With temperatures in the teens and winds whipping on the mountain, Kim said he kept walking and moving to stay warm. He took cover in several tree wells - depressions in snow that forms around a tree - and slept standing for 5 to 10 minutes at a time. He initially made a shelter near a big rock and tried to stay warm. He tried to keep walking, but at times "the snow was so deep, I couldn't breathe."
He worried his family and friends would worry about him. He made a fire, drank hot water and ate rice, some Korean food and a chocolate bar.
And even as he burned his personal items to say warm, the last US$6 going up in flames on Sunday night, he said: "I worried because it's a national park. You're not supposed to have a fire. ... I'm worried about that but I want to (stay) alive."
Money made for the best fire, he said, laughing. Nylon socks and packaging, not so great.
After rescuers reached Kim it took nine hours to bring him from the rugged terrain covered in deep snow to the Paradise visitors' center, a popular destination on the mountain, about a 160-kilometer drive south from Seattle.
"He was determined," An said. "He kept saying, he is not going to die unless God thinks he should. All he did was try to survive."
Yong Chun Kim, 66, of Tacoma, said he carried a lighter and other emergency supplies and burned personal items: extra socks, Band-Aids, toothbrush, packaging, and lastly US$1 and US$5 bills from his wallet.
Kim, who served in the military in the Vietnam War, told KOMO-TV in Seattle that skills he learned as a soldier helped him survive. He said he wasn't scared. He kept waiting for the sounds of the helicopter - though severe weather conditions prevented park officials from using one to search for Kim.
"I'm a lucky man, a really lucky man," he said on Tuesday from his home.
With temperatures in the teens and winds whipping on the mountain, Kim said he kept walking and moving to stay warm. He took cover in several tree wells - depressions in snow that forms around a tree - and slept standing for 5 to 10 minutes at a time. He initially made a shelter near a big rock and tried to stay warm. He tried to keep walking, but at times "the snow was so deep, I couldn't breathe."
He worried his family and friends would worry about him. He made a fire, drank hot water and ate rice, some Korean food and a chocolate bar.
And even as he burned his personal items to say warm, the last US$6 going up in flames on Sunday night, he said: "I worried because it's a national park. You're not supposed to have a fire. ... I'm worried about that but I want to (stay) alive."
Money made for the best fire, he said, laughing. Nylon socks and packaging, not so great.
After rescuers reached Kim it took nine hours to bring him from the rugged terrain covered in deep snow to the Paradise visitors' center, a popular destination on the mountain, about a 160-kilometer drive south from Seattle.
"He was determined," An said. "He kept saying, he is not going to die unless God thinks he should. All he did was try to survive."
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