Nicholas Joy credits reality TV for surviving 2 nights on Sugarloaf Mountain

A 17-year-old Massachusetts skier credits watching reality TV shows for surviving two nights lost and along on Sugarloaf Mountain ski resort in Maine.

The Maine Warden Service said Nicholas Joy built a snow cave and crawled inside after he found himself in unfamiliar, out-of-bounds territory during his last run Sunday.

“But he did the right thing in building a snow cave, and obviously he's still alive to talk about it, so he made some good decisions,” search crew commander Lt. Kevin Adam told The Associated Press.

Snowmobile driver Joel Paul from Massachusetts found Joy this morning at about 9 am. He was located alive and well on the Caribou Pond Road, a snowmobile trial, on the west side of the mountain.

Joy was to be transported to hospital for evaluation.

Paul, a fire department captain, wasn’t with the official rescue team, but heard about the missing skier and started his own search, WCVB.com reported.

“He was hungry. I gave him some peanuts and crackers I had in my snowmobile and I gave him that,” Paul said. “He said he watched a survival show on TV and basically took branches and snow and made himself a shelter and slept under the shelter.”

Joy and his father took separate paths off the ski lift and planned to meet in the parking lot, the AP reported.

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