Day Three: Salvation Arrives

It was the sound of helicopters that awoke the guests.

Even from underneath layers of clothes and blankets, they could hear the whirring of the blades. Three CNN helicopters were hovering in the sky over the Bon l’Hiver lodge, broadcasting images to the world. The news team captured the sleepy, powerless lodge just after dawn.

But the copters also could see what the 17 guests could not: Just a few miles away, snowplows were working their way through nearly a foot of snow, clearing a path for transportation to take all of them home. Salvation was on the way.

“When I saw CNN was covering our trip, that was the first inkling I had that our long weekend was major news,” Jonas Thomson recalls. “My sister called me and told me it was all the network had been talking about all weekend.”

“Anderson Cooper flew straight in from Iraq to cover this, so you know it was a big deal,” adds his wife, Kate.

There were a few challenges to face before the long-awaited rescue. The smell from the clogged toilet had barely dissipated overnight. And the guests faced another breakfast of cold cereal.

“People did start grumbling a little, yeah,” says staff member Marie Cohen. “We started running out of milk and that seemed to annoy people. Some parents sacrificed their own milk to give to their kids and were left with dry cereal. It was pretty heroic, actually.” 

“To this day, I can’t stand Cheerios,” says Marty Delgado.

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Around mid-afternoon, the refugees heard the sweet sound of plows clearing a path to the front door. A few of them went outside with signs they had made, holding them up so the CNN helicopters would see. “SOS,” read one sign.

The Delgados had called a cab and bounded out the door as soon as it pulled up. They thought they were home free but fate was not yet done taunting them.

“We had gone about three miles and don’t you know it? The cab breaks down,” says Diana Delgado with a sad chuckle. “We waited 45 minutes on the side of the road for Triple A to come out.”

“What a disaster,” adds Marty Delgado.

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In the years since their traumatic vacation, the 17 guests and staff have had to readjust to life on the outside. Perhaps surprisingly, none of the lodge staff quit, despite having to unclog an overflowed toilet and deal with surly guests. The guests praised the staff for their heroism during the ordeal.

The guests all did get refunds, although that wasn’t enough for some. Seventy-seven-year-old Alma Chambliss sued Bon l’Hiver and won an undisclosed financial settlement.

“You can’t put a dollar value on my pain and suffering,” says Chambliss.

The Delgados have had numerous offers over the years to sell their story for a TV movie but they have turned all of them down. Both of them prefer to move on and forget that weekend.

“I’ll tell you one thing: I’ll never go skiing again,” says Diana Delgado.