Lost in the Snow
| "Lost in the Snow" |
|---|
Lost in the Snow is the second episode of Discovery Channel's I Shouldn't Be Alive. In January 1993, James Stolpa, a army private and satellite equipment repairman out of Camp Roberts, CA, his wife, Jennifer Stolpa and their five-month old child, Clayton Stolpa, travel through California and Nevada en route to a funeral in Idaho but take an alternate road because Donner Pass on I-80 is closed. They become lost in the snowy Nevada desert during blizzard conditions.
After spending two days in their snowbound truck, they set out on foot to look for help. They put the baby in sleeping bags and a garment bag and wrap themselves up with clothing and head out. The effect of frost bite comes upon them quickly and they fight for their lives. At one point, the baby stops making sounds. They look in the bag and find the baby safe and sound. The family makes it to a cliffy place and Jim leaves his loved ones to find help. After walking 50 miles, he finds help. His wife and child are also safely rescued. However, frost bite claimed most of their toes.
As of 2006, Jim and Jennifer are no longer married. Jennifer is now known as Jennifer Repetti.
It's worth noting that this episode is unique, in that not only was the Stolpas' story reenacted by actors, but Survivorman Les Stroud physically put himself in the Stolpas' situation and showed viewers the correct choices to make in order to survive in such a situation.
In 1994, the Stolpas' story was also made in to a TV movie, Snowbound: The Jim and Jennifer Stolpa Story.