HELENA – Three snowmobilers who failed to return home from a weekend trip on the Continental Divide as a spring storm delivered snow and wind were found safe on Monday, the Lewis and Clark County sheriff said.
The men reported missing Sunday night were spotted Monday morning from a search helicopter northwest of Helena and had built a fire to stay warm, Sheriff Leo Dutton said.
“They’re all in good health; they’re doing well,” Dutton said.
He identified the men as Rich Proul, 49, Rich Hall, 49, and Nick Peterson, 23, all of the Helena area. They were found seven to 10 miles from the start of the trail on which they embarked Sunday, intending to retrieve a snowmobile that broke down earlier in the season, Dutton said.
Searchers on the ground reached the men about two hours after they were spotted from the air, Dutton said. The searchers on snowmobiles were only about two miles away but the travel was difficult, he said.
The search by Lewis & Clark Search and Rescue began on Sunday night. Searchers had been looking along a 15-mile trail and adjacent areas in steep country that is part of the national forest system about 25 air miles northwest of Helena.
Proul, Hall and Peterson “were dressed for the weather, they’re in good health and they had food and water,” Dutton said before they were found.
He said the men, hauling a replacement engine for the snowmobile they intended to retrieve, set out Sunday from a cabin on the Continental Divide’s Stemple Pass and were bound for the Dalton Mountain area.
A storm rolled in on Sunday, some of the mountainous areas around Helena received 6 to 8 inches of snow and the overnight low on MacDonald Pass west of Helena was 19 degrees. Winds probably were comparable to the 20-30 mph, with gusts of 40 mph, reported at some locations on the Montana plains, the National Weather Service said.
The sheriff said the search had involved nine people on snowmobiles, but six retreated after finding they were not prepared to continue in the difficult conditions.
“This terrain requires some advanced skill — side-hilling, different techniques to get around,” Dutton said.
Additional searchers were called from neighboring Jefferson County on Monday. Four relatives of the missing men looked for them, as well, Dutton said.