Mass. teen missing for 2 days found alive in Maine

CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Maine (AP) - Maine wardens say a 17-year-old skier who was found alive and well at Maine's Sugarloaf ski resort survived two nights in the wild by building a snow cave for shelter while walking toward the sound of snowmobiles during the day.

The Maine Warden Service says a snowmobiler found Nicholas Joy, of Medford, Mass., Tuesday morning on a trail off the western side of Sugarloaf Mountain. He was taken to a hospital for evaluation.

Joy was reported missing Sunday afternoon after he and his father took separate trails from the top and he failed to show up at the bottom.

The search was hampered Monday by high winds and blowing snow that limited visibility and caused the search to be called off at nightfall. Joy was located a short time after the search resumed Tuesday by Joel Paul, a snowmobile rider from Massachusetts, the warden service said.

One or two skiers get lost and are reported missing at Sugarloaf most winters, with skiers sometimes spending a night in the outdoors before being found. In a highly publicized case three years ago, four teenage snowboarders got lost after going out of bounds into ungroomed expert terrain, but they survived a cold night in dense woods and deep snow by continually moving around to stay warm.