Utah Kid's Survival Story Is Unbelievable (But True)

Last weekend, Mason Archibald, his family and some friends went snowmobiling up Logan Canyon.

The 14-year-old Bear River boy was no stranger to outdoor sports and cold weather, and even though he had never been snowmobiling, so no one worried much as several members of the group hopped on their snow rigs and headed up into the hills.

After riding around as a group for a couple of hours, at about 11 a.m. Saturday, the group decided to split up, each heading in slightly different directions, searching for powder and fun snowmobiling terrain.

The canyon and terrain, which edges into Franklin County, Idaho, wasn't too rugged as the thrill-seekers hit the hills, with Mason, an 8th-grader at Bear River Middle School, aboard a bright yellow snow machine.

"It was fun at first," Mason told KUTV News.

After a few minutes of fun, Mason realized he didn't know how to get back to camp and the rest of the group.

"I cried a little and prayed a lot," he said.

The prayers must have worked, but maybe not the way Mason had hoped.

He was not found right away, but when members of the group called for help from Search and Rescue, they authorities were able to get a "ping" from his cell phone.

Now for the miracle part.

After wandering for hours with no luck finding any other humans, and having to ditch the snowmobile because of the terrain, Mason decided to pray some more and then hunker down for the night.

The youngster said he patted down some snow and made a spot for himself to spend the night, but a blizzard struck right about then and Mason said he knew it was going to be a long night.

After the storm passed, temperatures dropped precipitously, dipping all the way down to 15 degrees below zero.

"I tossed and turned and kicked my feet to keep the blood flowing cause I’m thinking, I ain’t getting frost bite, dude, I’ve got to play baseball," Mason told Channel 2.

The next morning, Search and Rescue units found Mason and brought him down off the mountain, where he was checked out by doctors.

Amazingly, Archibald had zero frostbite anywhere on his body.

He spent 21 hours on the mountain in sub-zero atmosphere and came away alive and, incredibly, OK.

Prayers answered.

For more on this story, including an interview with Mason and his mom, Mindi, go to KUTV.com.