Rescued climber recounts terrifying week stranded on Yukon's Mount Logan

Three experienced climbers rescued from Canada's highest peak last weekremember aharrowing week trapped at an elevation ofnearly 6,000 metreswith extremewind and temperatures, with a hand-dug snow cave their only means of respite.

Bryce Brownsays 160 km/hwinds made the descentimpossible after reaching the summit ofMount Logan on June 2, in Yukon'sKluane National Park.

The summit, the highest peak in Canada, stands at 5,959 metres. Extreme altitude sickness can occur for most people at heights over 5,500 metres.

"We were actually crawling at one point, just trying to make forward progress," saysBrown, who'srecovering this weekin Canmore, Alta.

Created 'snow cave'

Brown says he knew his party was in trouble when he couldn't see past his hand. The winds were so strong, he feared they would literally be blown off the mountain.

"Luckily, we found a crevasse on the far side of the pass, and rather than continuing our descent in those conditions, we actually dug into thecrevasse and created kind of asnow cave," says Brown.

The climbers spent the next three dayscocooned under two metres of fresh snow, just 200 metres below the summit.

After tunnelling out of their snow cave, says Brown, they made slow progress down the mountain, descending just a few hundred metres the first day. By June 9, they were still at the 5,300-metre mark, trappedagain by stormyweather.

Brown says one of the climbers suffered frostbite. By then, theywere all showing signs of altitude sickness.

"Our food and our fuel supplies were dwindling," says Brown, "and so at that stage, we were starting to face the reality that we might not get off the mountainunder our own power."

The group thendecided to use itssatellitephone to call Parks Canada.Two days later, a specialized high-altitude helicopterreachedthem at their5,300-metre camp and flew them to safety.

After the rescue, Parks Canada Yukon posteda video of a flyover of the rescue site on Mount Logan.

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"It was fantastic," says Brown of the rescue. "If the weather hadn't cleared to allow the helicopter evacuation, within a few days, we would have been inserious trouble."