Today on Taking on Nature, Marcus Shaver, a 2-time heavyweight boxing champion, joins us to talk about his incredible tale of survival.0:02
He was lost with only his snowboard on Brooker Mountain and finally rescued after 8 days.0:11
Welcome to the show, Marcus.0:17
It's great to be here.0:19
Marcus, when I heard your story, I really couldn't believe it.0:20
You were snowboarding at Brooker Ski Resort, a local ski spot, and somehow you end up alone fighting for your life on the mountain.0:24
How did you get lost for so many days?0:31
I know, it's hard to believe.0:34
I was enjoying one of my other passions besides boxing—snowboarding.0:36
I often go on the weekends.0:40
On this particular day, an approaching snowstorm forced the ski patrol to shut down the slopes.0:42
I noticed the ski patrol directing people off the mountain, but being an experienced snowboarder, I decided to take one last run.0:47
It turned out to be the worst decision of my life.0:55
Why didn't you just snowboard down to the chalet?0:57
That's exactly what I intended to do after the run.1:00
But as I was going down the hill, I hit very heavy fog.1:03
It was like I quickly opened the door to another world.1:06
I couldn't see a thing and took a wrong turn heading into the wilderness.1:10
It was getting dark and I was now lost.1:14
There I was, wearing nothing but a light jacket, with only a snowboard and an MP3 player and facing a night of freezing temperatures.1:20
When it got dark, I tried to make a fire but was unable to.1:28
Then, I used my snowboard to dig out a shelter in the snow to spend the night.1:31
I planned to walk down the mountain in the morning.1:36
So your snowboard was useful?1:38
Besides helping with the shelters and climbing through difficult areas, it was my companion during this horrible experience.1:42
It helped me stay calm.1:48
So, what happened in the morning?1:49
When I woke up and could finally see where I was, I realized I was about 12 kilometers away from the ski area.1:51
The next few days were spent slowly making my way up the mountain towards the ski area.1:57
How did you manage that?2:02
With great difficulty.2:04
I slowly, step by step, climbed up the mountain.2:06
It's the reason I am alive though.2:10
By moving throughout the day, I didn't freeze to death.2:12
It also helped that I was in good shape from boxing.2:15
When I stopped on the third evening and checked my feet, they were completely frostbitten and I thought that I would lose them, but I just refused to give up.2:18
How were you rescued?2:26
On the last day, I was really weak and kept falling asleep.2:28
I reached the ridge of the mountain and just collapsed.2:31
That's when the helicopter found me.2:34
I was dying of hypothermia and fought to stay awake.2:36
They found me just in time.2:40
How do you feel now looking back on what happened?2:43
I feel very lucky to be alive.2:46
I still go snowboarding, but I'm more careful now.2:48
What an amazing story, Marcus!2:51
Let's take a break and return to take some calls from our listeners.2:53
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