Adventurers explore the Mount Hakkoda Ski Area in northeastern Japan in this undated photo. (Andrew Waldo)
An unidentified woman from Misawa Air Base survived a frigid night in northeastern Japan recently after becoming lost while snowshoeing.
The 67-year-old American civilian went missing Friday, base spokeswoman Staff Sgt. Kristen Heller told Stars and Stripes by email Wednesday. A search party found her the next morning near Mount Hakkoda Ski Area, nearly two hours’ drive west of the base.
The woman communicated by phone to her son that she was lost around 1:30 p.m. Friday. The weather turned windy that night with flurries, light rain and temperatures in the low 30s. Aomori prefecture, home to the base and the ski area, receives some of the highest snowfall in Japan.
A small ski patrol searched for the woman on Friday in zero visibility conditions, returning without success, Tech. Sgt. Andrew Waldo told Stars and Stripes on Wednesday by Facebook Messenger.
Snow covers mountains near Mount Hakkoda Ski Area in northeastern Japan in this undated photo. (Andrew Waldo)
The next morning, a Japanese search-and-rescue party was joined by six volunteers from Misawa with backcountry skiing experience and others with medical training, Waldo wrote in a Facebook post about the search on Sunday.
The rescue team found the woman relatively unscathed at 9:40 a.m. Saturday, he wrote.
The woman stayed smart and saved her own life, Waldo wrote. She stayed put at her last point of contact, permitted her cellphone carrier to ping her phone and then hunkered down in the snow next to a tree to reduce her exposure to the elements.
All that “undoubtedly was the difference between absolute peril and survival,” Waldo wrote.
The commander of Misawa’s 35th Fighter Wing expressed thanks to those involved in the search.
“We are truly grateful that a member of our community was found alive and is seeking medical care,” Col. Michael Richard told Stars and Stripes by email Wednesday. “It is imperative to practice safety measures to prevent injury or loss of life, as everyone is important to our mission.”
