Bellingham, WA – A man from the Czech Republic survived a night in a snow cave in the backcountry surrounding Washington’s Mt. Baker ski area over the weekend.

Jakub Cink, 23, was reported missing from the ski area at the end of the day on Saturday. A search party of about 20 rescuers headed south based on witness accounts, and after his tracks were located the search was discontinued around 2 a.m. due to high avalanche danger.

Cink spent the night in a snow cave on Mount Shuksan after he became disoriented out of bounds, thinking that he had found a short cut to the parking lot. He self-evacuated and notified a member of  the search party within the ski area on Sunday morning.