"Waiting for help is basically what works"

It's the "Rule of Threes" that Doug Burchard — who's been in the search-and-rescue profession for 14 years — emphasizes about surviving when stranded in the wild.

"It takes three minutes to die without oxygen, three hours without shelter, three days without water and three weeks without food," said Burchard, the training director for the King County Search and Rescue Association.

He understands why James Kim, the 35-year-old who was found dead in Oregon's snowy coastal mountains, had set out on foot Saturday seeking help for his family, stranded on a road.

"It's a strange psychology when somebody is lost. They feel helpless and they feel they have to do something ... get out of their cars and keep moving," Burchard said. "And here you are, asking them to do nothing. But waiting for help is basically what works.

"A vehicle is a very large object, and it's on a road, which is a linear thing, and we can search for it from the air. People lost in the woods are very difficult to find."

Kim's wife and two children, who stayed with their car, were rescued Monday after nine days in their car and are in good condition.

For Jim Whittaker, of Port Townsend, the legendary Northwest mountaineer and the first American to summit Mount Everest, too many Americans "have lost touch with nature."

He said he and his wife, Dianne, often drive to visit relatives in Calgary, Alberta.

"Except for a couple of months in the summer, Calgary gets snow over a lot of the year," Whittaker said. "It's an old standby, you throw in a sleeping bag because you can get stuck anywhere. You gas up, maybe carry an extra gas can. You throw in a few quart water bottles, a sandwich, candy bars, potato chips."

According to the AAA, a winter driving kit should at the very least include:

A bag of abrasive material, such as sand, salt or cat litter; small snow shovel; snow brush; traction mats; flashlight; window-washing solvent; ice scraper; cloth or paper towels; booster cables; blanket; warning flares or triangles; gloves or mittens; cellphone.

Doug Burchard's winter survival advice includes:

• Being prepared for the weather to rapidly change.

• Double-checking the driving route before leaving, especially for road closures.

• Making certain the vehicle is in good working order.

• "Remembering that 90 percent of the time, nothing goes wrong. It's the 10 percent you have to worry about. So don't make your survival preparation too complicated, or you won't stay prepared beyond a trip or two."