Man stranded in snowdrift for three days survived on frozen beer

When Clifton Vial crashed his truck into a snowdrift during a drive on a rarely-used road in a remote area of Alaska, he had only snow and a few frozen cans of Coors Light to keep him going.

Vial was stuck in the snow for three days outside of the town of Nome, approximately 700 km northwest of Anchorage. "I felt really pissed at myself," the 52-year-old said about his drive, which started on Nov. 28. "I shouldn't have been out there by myself unprepared for what I knew was possible."



To keep warm as the nights dipped as low as -28 C, he used a fleece sleeping bag liner and occasionally started the truck to run the heater. As for food, there was nothing but a few cans of beer that were frozen solid. So he ate the beer. "I cut the lids off and dug it out with a knife," he said.

Vial was finally rescued when his boss realized his always punctual employee was very late and emergency crews started searching for him. Vial said he lost 16 pounds during his ordeal, but had no signs of frostbite and was otherwise healthy.