Roger Seem and his 12 sled dogs had gone missing in the Soer-Troendelag Mountains on Thursday, January 25th. Seem, an accomplished musher with a lot of wilderness experience was caught in a blizzard that forced him to stop. Seem sent a text message on his cell phone before the battery died. His message detailed how his dogs were exhausted from breaking trail, he was tired, and gave a location to within 5 square kilometers of his position.Search and rescue crews were not able to fly during the storm, and snow machines could not make any progress in the deep snow to locate Seem. Large trail breaking equipment was necessary to make a trail through the shoulder deep snow to locate and reach the team. Seem had heard the trail breaking equipment and yelled out. Distant people had heard the cries for help, but due to the noise created by the equipment, his cries were not heard by the rescuers. Rescue teams found it easier to locate Seem at night as he had with him an LED headlamp, which was reflected off the snow in the dark.Seem was prepared for the cold, but did not have enough dog or human food for the storm delay. When the rescue team found Seem he was chest deep in snow but in good condition, and his dogs were covered in snow and in fair shape. Seem was taken by snow machine to safety, and a friend drove the team out.Emergency rescue officials commended Seem on staying with his sled, making him easier to locate, but warned other mushers to make sure to take with them enough clothing, human and dog food for any unexpected situation.
