ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, December 23, 1996 TAG: 9612230097
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHAMA, N.M.
SOURCE: Associated Press
THIS TIME, THE RACE was against time, and three-time Indianapolis 500 champ Bobby Unser prevailed, surviving two days in a blizzard.
Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Unser and a friend fought through blizzards and bitter cold, spending two nights lost in the mountains after their snowmobiles broke down
Unser, 63, and Robert Gayton, 36, began their snowmobile trek Friday morning from Unser's ranch home at Chama, about 120 miles north of Albuquerque and six miles south of the Colorado state line. Unser's race veteran brother, Al, and nephew, Al Jr., also have ranches at Chama.
Gayton's snowmobile broke down first, and after the two doubled up on Unser's snowmobile, it started sputtering.
The two men carried no food or water, but they were dressed in insulated snowmobiling outfits. They hiked into a canyon to get out of wind they estimated at 70 mph and built a snow cave, covering it with branches and filling it with twigs for insulation. Temperatures were zero to 10 above, with wind chills well below zero.
Gayton said they set out hiking again on Saturday morning, through 2 to 4 feet of snow, sometimes sinking up to their chests.
``I'm telling you, there's no way to describe to anybody how bad it really was,'' Unser said. ``And every decision that we made had to be made right.''
Late Saturday, they found a barn which had a phone and heater. After calling for help, they were picked up by Al Unser Sr. and a friend an hour later. They were examined at a clinic in Tierra Amarilla before being sent home Sunday.
Cindi Unser, Unser's daughter, said this was not the first time her father was stranded while snowmobiling.
``He had this happen about 15 years ago. A blizzard moved in on him. He built a snow igloo then,'' she said. She told him, ``I don't know how many lives you have or how many lives you've used.''
LENGTH: Short : 48 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Bobby Unser rubs his eyes during an interviewby CNBSunday, the day after he was rescued from a blizzard. color.