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Doctors and police have since been able to fill in some of the blanks, determining that Filippidis’ unusual ordeal came about as a result of a head injury sustained on that fateful trek to retrieve his cellphone.

Now, as he returns to work, he says he often dwells on what could have happened.

“I feel fortunate that I’m here talking today because of all the potential things that could have resulted,” he says.

Filippidis says he believes his misadventure began when he took a wrong turn on the way back to the car. He has no recollection of a fall that knocked him out and likely caused a concussion, but recalls coming to at “dusk” feeling sore and disoriented.

He made his way to what he mistakenly believed to be the main ski lodge, only to find it closed and deserted. Investigators later determined that Filippidis likely fell near a children’s ski slope and worked his way to the hub of kids programming, an area that’s sparsely populated and would have been closed at the time.

Photo by Sacramento County Sheriff's Office

Filippidis suspects he then flagged down a truck in the hopes of securing a ride off the mountain.

Memories of what happened next are fragmented at best.

He recalls climbing into the warm cab of a truck still clad in his ski boots and winter clothing. He remembers being sick by the side of a road at what appeared to be a truck stop, and then learning he was driving through Utah.

“I’d never been out that way,” he says. “It kind of added to my confusion and feeling of not really knowing what was going on because I’m not familiar with that part of the country.”