Teenager survives 30 hours stranded in mountains by building snow cave and using phone alarm

‘I didn’t want PB&J to be my last meal,’ says Nicolas Stacy-Alcantara

A boy who became stranded in the Utah mountains overnight in waist-deep snow survived by using his phone’s alarm function to stay awake.

Nicolas Stacy-Alcantara had begun a hike in relatively mild weather when heavy snow began to fall before he reached his destination, US media reported.

As he progressed from Millcreek Canyon to Park City he realised something was wrong.

”It was gradual. I noticed the snow was getting deeper and deeper as I was hiking,” he told KSL-TV.

When the 17-year-old felt his feet begin to freeze, he found a tree and dug a miniature cave in the snow beneath it.

“I knew my chest was more important than my feet,” he told FOX13. “I knew if I lost those, I could still live, so I really just tied the ends of my jackets together. I tucked my arms inside my jacket and tucked my head inside.”

His phone had no signal but proved useful nonetheless as, knowing that if he fell asleep in the freezing conditions he might not wake back up, Nicolas set alarms at 30-minute intervals. He also drummed his hands against his chest to maintain blood flow.

The California native had been visiting an ex-girlfriend when he decided to take a walk – packing six peanut butter and jam sandwiches and a litre of water.

Finding a beaded bracelet his former partner had given him helped him through the night by reminding him of people who cared about him, he told reporters.

Plus, he joked, “I didn’t want PB&J to be my last meal”.

Nicolas survived 30 hours alone in the mountains, before he found fellow hikers with a satellite phone.

He was treated for frostbite to his feet but is expected to recover, reports said.