Tweeten had not been able to because it takes two people to get a fire started, he said. They melted snow in a can to drink.

“We weren’t hungry,” Tweeten said. “Water and warm was what we wanted.”

The next day, the men were reported missing. During that time, the lost men rode one sled part way out of the drainage they were in until it ran out of gas.

Schafer, who joined the search, said weather prevented any rescuers from going where the men were lost that first day of the search.

“We searched where we could ride and many times were in total white-out conditions, but still hoped we might run into them,” he said.

On Saturday morning, the storm let up slightly and a team was able to go into the area. The military reported a ping from Tweeten’s cellphone from Thursday when the men had used the compass, which gave rescuers a location.

The four men who were lower on the mountain tied small plastic shovels to the lead person’s feet and started walking out. They found Tweeten alive and well, got his snowmobile unstuck and built another fire. James Murray then tried to get out on the snowmobile to get help.