CAMDEN (WGME) -- Wilderness experts are applauding a 17-year-old's survival skills that helped him endure two nights lost on Sugarloaf Mountain.
"When he came out I felt like jumping out of the chair!" said John Rogers, founder of Maine's Outdoor Learning Center in Camden.
Joy got lost skiing down the west side of Sugarloaf on Sunday afternoon. He couldn't find his way back to the resort, so Maine wardens say he built a snow cave to shelter himself from the cold, and found water to drink in a nearby stream. Tuesday morning, Joy walked toward the sound of a snowmobile. That snowmobiler, Joel Paul from Massachusetts, found Joy, and helped get him to safety.
Rogers says Joy did everything right while on his own - he focused on finding shelter and water.
"You can survive a long, long time, you can go a long time without eating," Rogers said. "As a society sometimes we think we can't, but we can go a long time (without food), but you've gotta have water."
Rogers says the only other thing that could've helped Joy is having a fire starter. He says water and fire can help you survive several weeks in the wild.
But what's most impressive, Rogers says, is that Joy had the smarts to admit that he was lost.
"The best thing you can do if you don't know where you are is stop. If you don't stop, you're trying to find a moving target. It's very difficult."
It's hard to teach people how to stay calm if they're lost, but Rogers says we should take a lesson from Joy, and try not to panic.
"I'm impressed with this young guy," Rogers said. "He did an incredible job. Kept his cool and that's how we survive."
For more information on Maine's Outdoor Learning Center and the courses they offer, CLICK HERE.
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