Hiker Survives 5 Nights Lost in B.C. Mountains

When Stanislav Volo's phone died at the top of Mount Habrich, he had no idea his simple Sunday hike would turn into a five-night fight for survival that would captivate an entire community.

The 43-year-old father set out from the Sea-to-Sky Gondola near Squamish on August 30, planning to complete the Mount Habrich Loop before the gondola closed. But when his phone battery died at the summit, he lost his navigation and made a decision that nearly cost him everything.

Volo heard what he thought was highway traffic and started descending toward the sound with four hours to spare. Instead, he'd been fooled by pipeline construction noise and was heading the wrong way down the mountain.

Then disaster struck. He slipped in a drainage, badly injuring his heel and wrist. With no way to climb back up, he had only one choice: keep going down.

For the next several nights, Volo sheltered in a small cave near a waterfall, rationing packages of gummy bears and staying warm while his heel recovered enough to attempt the descent. When the gummy bears ran out, he discovered a sweet-tasting wildflower that kept him going.

"I was like OK, if I have the plants, and I know where to stay, I have my little hut where I am hiding from the rain, I think I can wait here a few more days," he explained from his hospital bed, sporting bruises and a black eye but in remarkably good spirits.

Helicopters passed overhead multiple times, but he couldn't get their attention. Finally, Volo made the gutsy decision to descend on his injured foot rather than wait for rescue.

"You have two options basically, you wait for the helicopters to come and rescue you, or you have to do something about it," he said. Slowly and painstakingly, he worked his way down the steep, technical terrain until he reached a river, then a road.

A construction worker spotted him and connected him with search and rescue crews who had been scouring the area. "It was such a joy and such an amazing feeling of being there, and just tears of happiness were running down my face," Volo said.

Why This Inspires

Tyler Duncan, the Squamish Search and Rescue manager, called Volo's survival "remarkable" after 15 years in search and rescue. The fact that Volo descended the mountain's back side with serious injuries, through a storm, on some of the most challenging terrain in the region shows incredible determination.

But this story inspires for another reason too. While Volo fought to survive, dozens of search and rescue volunteers gave up days of their lives searching rugged mountainside in brutal weather, never giving up hope.

Volo's sister Ola was overjoyed when she got the news: "He walked out on the road on his two feet." At the hospital, they celebrated with pizza, which Volo called "very tasty" after days of wildflowers.

Now recovering at home with his family, Volo wants others to learn from his experience. "It can happen to anyone," he said, emphasizing the danger of relying too heavily on technology in the backcountry.

His message is simple but powerful: preparation matters, but so does the will to survive and the community that refuses to stop searching.