Hiker survived avalanche and 13 snow storms with only a lighter and a knife

A hiker has described surviving off of melted snow and wild leeks after she went missing in a snow storm for 24 days.

Tiffany Slaton endured 13 snow storms as she trekked more than 20miles without shelter, even popping her own knee back into place after falling off a cliff.

The hiker climbed 10,000ft in eastern California and sustained herself with wild plants and other survival hacks.

She gave a detailed account of the ordeal at a news conference just two days after she was found in an unlocked mountain cabin.

Tiffany had been on a long biking and backpacking trip in California when she disappeared in the Sierra National Forest.

She was last seen on CCTV in the Huntington Lake community on April 20 and was reported missing by her parents on April 29 after she failed to get in touch.

Tiffany was last seen at Huntington Lake before reappearing more than 20 miles away at Vermilion Valley Resort (Picture: Created with Datawrapper)

A full-scale operation spanning 600 square miles failed to find her as she endured a ‘heroic story’ of ‘determination, perseverance and survival’.

The experienced adventurer was caught in an avalanche and was knocked unconscious falling of a cliff.

She awoke to an injured leg, which she splinted herself while popping ‘the other knee back into place’.

Even though she set off with basic camping supplies, an electric bike, two sleeping bags and a tent, she lost all of this equipment during her hike for survival.

Tiffany speaking to the media about her ordeal (Picture: AP)

The advanced archer was left with only a lighter, a knife and some snacks as she walked the Kaiser Pass, a 9,000ft peak which was buried under snowdrifts between 10-12ft deep.

Those snacks ran out within days, forcing Tiffany to forage to stay alive.

She gathered and ate leeks which grow in the Sierra Nevada range and hydrated herself with melted snow.

Tiffany even made tea every day with the manzanita shrub and pine needles.

‘The worst thing you can do in an emergency situation is panic,’ Tiffany said.

Without her expert knowledge as a horticulturalist and medical background as a dialysis technician, Tiffany would have had little chance of survival.

Her five calls to 911 all failed to connect and her phone’s GPS told her the nearest Starbucks was 18 miles away.

Huge waves of snowfall struck the mountain range over the past few weeks (Picture: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)

More than 20 miles and 24 days later, the hiker stumbled upon an open cabin hidden amongst the heap of white snow at Vermilion Valley Resort.

The resort leaves the huts open during the winter in case any passing hikers need shelter.

Just eight hours after collapsing in the cabin, the resort’s owner, Christopher Gutierrez, arrived to open the lodges for the summer.

Tiffany said of the safe haven: ‘That was the 13th heavy snowstorm I had been in, and it was going to be the last one.

‘If he hadn’t come that day, they would’ve found my body there.’

It was complete luck that the path to the lodge had been ploughed just the day before, allowing Christopher to rescue Tiffany.

Tiffany Slaton was rescued after being missing for three weeks (Picture: AP)

He said: ‘She pops out, didn’t say a word, just ran up, and all she wanted was a hug. And it was, it was a pretty surreal moment.

‘And that’s when I knew. That’s when I realized who this was.’

Tiffany spoke to reporters in sunglasses, because her sight was damaged by the sun reflecting off the white snow during the 24-day nightmare.

She also lost 10lbs during the ordeal.

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