Photo: COSAR

COSAR rescued two lost snowboarders Friday near Big White.

What a pair of lost snowboarders did wrong Friday was go out of bounds near Big White.

What they did right was call for help, stay put, stay warm and give rescuers a GPS of their exact location.

Ed Henczel, with Central Okanagan Search and Rescue, said the call for help went out at 3:30 p.m. when the two men in their 30s realized they could not find their way back to civilization.

“They had gone off the backside to play on the fresh pow. They wandered around briefly before they got a cell signal and called for help,” said Henczel, adding eight members on snowmobiles were sent out.

Henczel said the GPS co-ordinates were “spot on” and led rescuers directly to the men, but that does not mean it was an easy day.

“The powder was deep enough the last half hour they had to snowshoe in because the sleds weren't effective and even then they were snowshoeing up to their waist,” said Henczel.

Henczel said the lost snowboarders were well equipped “with warm clothes, they lit a small fire and they stayed put after they called.”

The COSAR members helped them back to the snowmobiles and brought them back to base camp at around midnight.