Locals Amazed After Missing Snowboarder Survives Night In Tahoe Area During Storm

SODA SPRINGS (CBS SF) -- A day after a missing snowboarder from San Francisco was found in the Tahoe back-country, locals are saying they are amazed he made it through okay.

25-year old Abe Finkelstein, an engineer and musician was snowboarding with his father near Boreal Monday when he decided to take one last run, and got lost in white-out conditions.

"That was gnarly yesterday.  That was super tough," said Soda Springs resident Robert Elliott.

Search crews looked for Finkelstein, but after using his snowboard and some debris to make a shelter for the night, he ended up saving himself by following a creek that led to a home, where he was able to find help.

"What I hear is he hiked down the back side of Boreal, ended up in Soda, and a family last night eating dinner, and he came into their house and they helped him out," said Elliott.

The Sheriff's Department says Finkelstein was treated for minor frostbite. He has been released from the hospital.