SIX DAYS ON MOUNT HABRICH
What Stanislav knew when technology failed
Sometimes survival stories aren't really about survival gear.
They're about what is left when the gear doesn't work.
Stanislav Volo went into the mountains near Squamish and became lost and injured on Mount Habrich. He spent six days in the wilderness before he was finally able to make his way out.
He wasn't carrying a week's worth of food.
According to Lions Bay Search & Rescue, he had two bags of gummy bears.
He rationed them.
He also ate fireweed.
And when he needed shelter, he found a cave.
Those details might sound almost absurd at first—gummy bears, a cave and some wild plants—but there is an important survival lesson hiding inside them.
Shelter first. Energy matters.
When you're lost, the instinct may be to keep moving.
But moving burns energy.
Stanislav sheltered, rationed what food he had and didn't need to replace every calorie his body was burning. He needed to remain alive long enough to get himself out.
Lions Bay SAR has since used his experience to talk about something many of us rarely think about until we're desperate:
What is actually edible in the forest around us?
Fireweed is one example. Young shoots, leaves and flowers can be eaten. The berries that grow throughout our coastal forests can also provide carbohydrates and sugar.
Salal. Huckleberries. Blueberries. Salmonberries. Thimbleberries.
But there is an equally important lesson in what not to eat.
Mushrooms may look like an obvious wilderness food, but fresh mushrooms contain a great deal of water and relatively little energy compared with many berries. And some mushrooms growing in British Columbia can be deadly.
Lions Bay SAR's advice is simple:
Learn what grows where you actually travel—and learn to identify it before you are hungry.
Because hunger changes your judgment.
Something that looks like food when you're desperate may be something you should never put in your mouth.
But there is another part of Stanislav's story that interests me even more.
He has described an “animal instinct” emerging in him.
That phrase stayed with me.
Because perhaps survival isn't something we completely lose in the modern world.
Perhaps we simply don't have to use it very often.
We have phones.
GPS.
Maps.
Weather apps.
Emergency beacons.
Satellites.
All of these things can be extraordinarily useful.
But a battery can die.
A signal can disappear.
A device can break.
And when that happens, there is still a human being standing in the forest.
You.
Your eyes.
Your ears.
Your memory.
Your ability to notice shelter.
Your knowledge of the landscape.
Your ability to conserve energy.
Your judgment.
Your instincts.
Stanislav survived six days with very little food. He found shelter. He ate something he recognized as edible. He rationed what he had. He kept going.
And eventually, he walked out.
That's what makes his story worth remembering.
Not because we should all go into the mountains carrying gummy bears.
But because it reminds us that survival knowledge begins before the emergency.
Learn the plants where you live.
Learn how to find shelter.
Learn how quickly you lose energy when you're cold, wet or injured.
Know how to make decisions when you're frightened.
And don't assume technology will always be there to save you.
Sometimes the most important survival equipment is the knowledge you carry inside your own head.
Stanislav went into the mountains with modern technology.
When things went wrong, he had to draw on something much older.
Human instinct.
And six days later, he walked out.
🙏🌲
Absolutely. These can go at the end of Post 1 and invite people to think rather than just read.
🌲 10 Reflective Questions
1. What would you do first if you suddenly realized you were lost?
2. How much would you trust your phone if you were deep in the wilderness?
3. What survival knowledge do you carry in your own head?
4. Could you recognize edible plants growing where you live?
5. Would you know how to find or create shelter?
6. How would you conserve your energy if you were injured and couldn't easily get out?
7. Have you ever experienced a moment when instinct took over?
8. Do we rely too heavily on technology to keep us safe?
9. What is one wilderness skill you would like to learn before you need it?
10. If everything electronic stopped working tomorrow, how prepared would you really be?
#StanislavVolo #MountHabrich #Squamish #WildernessSurvival #SurvivalSkills #LionsBaySAR #KnowYourEnvironment #HumanInstinct #BackToBasics #SurvivalKnowledge #BritishColumbia #SeaToSky #WildernessSafety #Technology #Nature
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