Rescued B.C. snowboarder confused tracks with his own

Fears that another snowboarder may be wandering in the snowbound mountains north of Vancouver have been laid to rest.

Searchers with North Shore Rescue who brought snowboarder James William Martin, 21, off Mount Seymour on Wednesday, returned to the site later that evening after Martin told the RCMP he had seen tracks in the area that were not his own.

The search team was able to determine the tracks likely did belong to Martin after all, the rescue team reported, according to local media reports on Thursday. North Shore Rescue did not reply to calls on Thursday.

Martin, originally from Orillia, Ont., was recovering in hospital Thursday with frostbite. He became lost while snowboarding Sunday and spent the next three days seeking shelter and trudging through deep snow looking for a way out.

He said he never gave up hope, but admitted his optimism was waning as the days wore on.

"I thought I was going to get out every single night that I was in there. I thought, as I'm getting closer to dark, 'Well, it's just around the corner,' but it never was," he said from his hospital bed in Vancouver.

"Another day and I would have just ventured farther off and would have just died in the bush."

The search for Martin didn't begin until Tuesday, when his vehicle was reported abandoned at the top of the mountain.

Martin said he could see helicopters flying overhead, but they couldn't see him through the trees.

"I waved them down, I thought he was coming down for sure but he didn't come back," Martin said.

Rescuers spotted Martin's tracks in the snow and followed them. They found him Wednesday afternoon.

"It's wonderful to live another day … to live another year," Martin said. "It's wonderful to make it out alive."

Martin's mother was travelling to Vancouver on Thursday to take her son home, said his father, Dave.

"We were doing terrible until [Wednesday] night when we heard the good news," he said in an interview from his home in Orillia. "It's been the best New Year's ever."

The elder Martin said he spoke with his son Thursday morning.

 "He's happy to be alive," he said. "He's got frostbite on fingers and toes, but he's not going to lose any."

Martin, a graduate of Orillia District Collegiate and Vocational Institute, is an avid snowboarder, skateboarder and outdoorsman, his father said. He moved to the Vancouver area in the summer and found a job at a local roofing company.