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Survivors: Five snowmobilers spend the night in -20 temperatures and live to tell about it
  
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By J.D. STETSON, News-Record Writer jstetson@gillettenewsrecord.net
It was nearing dark Sunday when 25-year-old Nick Sharkey and 23-year-old Sam Kennedy left their three compatriots in a makeshift camp in the Big Horn Mountains and went in search of help.The five men from Gillette had spent the previous night shivering next to a fire while being hit with minus 20-degree temperatures and chilling wind.
Besides Sharkey and Kennedy, the men included 22-year-old Tyler Gulley, 22-year-old Jimmy Morin and 29-year-old Nate Sikkenga.
Low on fuel, low on fluids, and camping in a less sheltered spot than the night before, Kennedy asked who would go with him to find help on a nearby snowmobile trail. Sharkey said he would.
When they reached the trail, the two were in dire straits from the cold, Kennedy said.
Despair crept in, and the two retreated to a treeline in order to avoid the howling wind.
Kennedy kept looking back toward the trail in hopes of spotting a light in the dark.
By about 5:30 p.m., he saw the headlights of a snowmobile.
“When we saw the snowmobile lights coming in, it was like God just shined a light down on us saying just ‘You’re safe,’” Sharkey said.
Afternoon of thrills
On Saturday, the five had headed off in search of thrills on their snowmobiles for an afternoon joyride. Only two of the five were experienced riders. The other three were new to the sport.
They took off from Bear Lodge Resort, about 26 miles from Dayton on Highway 14.
They came across Horse Creek Canyon about 9 miles from a popular snowmobiling spot known as Fiberglass Hill — so named because of the pieces of wrecked snowmobiles that sometimes litter the hillside.
Down they went into the canyon in the name of fun.
But when they tried to get back out, their pleasure trip became more of a winter survival course because the machines failed to climb the rocks and were wrecked down in the canyon.
Among the five, only one had brought a cell phone, but it only had a limited charge. They were able to get one 911 phone call out before the battery completely died.
That first day, the five had chosen to stick together as they walked in search of help. When it became dark and the temperature dropped, the men chose to build a fire between two cliffs and share the extra clothing that they had brought.
The next day, the group decided to climb out of the canyon to see if they could spot the nearby highway. They saw rescuers periodically throughout the day, but they had no way to bring attention to themselves.
After realizing the highway was too far away, they decided to set up camp once again near a trail in a remote section of the forest.
As the camp came together, Kennedy had talked about heading toward another trail. Soon they thought they heard the motors of a snowmobile. Gulley, Morin and Sikkenga ran toward the noise with sticks on fire, hoping to find rescuers. They didn’t hear another sound.
When they returned to camp, Sharkey and Kennedy were gone, Sikkenga said.
Searching at minus 27 degrees
Lucky for them, the one 911 call they were able to make connected to the Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office. Before they lost service, they were able to say that they needed help, but they didn’t know that on the other end, the sheriff’s office had no way to trace their call to find out exactly where they were.
Rescuers in Big Horn County started searching, but they also contacted rescuers in Sheridan and Johnson counties to begin looking for the young snowmobilers.
Rick Young, owner of Bear Lodge Resort, also got word that snowmobilers were missing — some that had taken off from his lodge that day.
Saturday night, he chose to brave the cold temperatures with his main guide as they searched for the missing snowmobilers. The two returned to the lodge about 1 a.m. after failing to find the men along a 22-mile stretch of popular snowmobile trails.
But they had found some tracks near Horse Creek Canyon, and Young suspected that the men were somewhere between Fiberglass Hill and the canyon.
A cold front had moved in Saturday afternoon, and temperatures that evening dipped to a punishing minus 27 degrees. It was so cold that Young’s snowmobile helmet visor had fogged up, causing him to open the visor so that he could see.
It was an action that would cause him frostbite on his face after the six hours he spent searching for the lost snowmobilers. He also had frostbite in his fingers.
After a brief rest and some bandages, he was ready to head out again with other search and rescue volunteers.
It wasn’t the first time that Young had participated in a rescue operation. About a half dozen times each year, someone runs into trouble or gets lost in the forest.
“We always hope to find them within the first two hours,” he said.
As he approached the Horse Creek Basin about 5:30 p.m. Sunday, he glimpsed some movement near the edge of the forest near the trail.
He stopped his snowmobile and turned to look more closely because he wasn’t sure what he had seen at first.
Kennedy and Sharkey walked out of the forest.
“They were almost to tears and they were just happy to see us,” Young said.
“I feel like I got my life back. It was a second chance and the best feeling I could have,” Kennedy said.
A three-county effort
The two men road back to the lodge with Young and they told the rescuers where to find the rest of their party.
But the cold temperatures weren’t helping. It was cold enough to gel the diesel fuel that powers the Snow Cats. Only one rescue sled would work into the night.
When they reached the three men, they waited around a fire and had hot cocoa while they waited for larger transportation to come.
With help from the Wyoming Department of Transportation, the rescuers were able to bring ambulances and equipment from Big Horn County close enough to help the men across a stretch of Highway 14A, which is seasonally closed.
About 30 volunteers helped with the rescue, which included crews from Big Horn, Sheridan and Johnson counties.
The best help rescuers can have in these situations is to let someone know where they are going, stressed Lt. Mark Conrad of the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office.
The huge turnout of volunteers from all three counties were a big help, but some had to be turned away because they didn’t have experience with the conditions and may well have had to be rescued as well.
The story could have ended much worse than it did, but because the men made the correct decisions at the right time, it turned out for the best, Conrad said.
“They made some good decisions,” Conrad said. “They stayed in a group and pooled their resources.”
The ordeal taught the men a few lessons about the value of being prepared.
Sikkenga’s advice to all snowmobilers: “Always bring food, matches and always have a saw.”
“Next time, we’ll be more prepared,” Morin added.
The number of volunteers who came to rescue them and the amount of community participation on Facebook that alerted many to the men’s disappearance surprised them.
“I never thought in my wildest dreams that across the nation people would care so much,” Gulley said.
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