Thanks for the info, DON'T STALL!
Idaho as a state you can say many things about, but one thing is their aeronautical department has their stuff together. Their strips (eg Johnson Creek) are so awesome.
Sparky? I had one of his tail dragger mountain flying tapes back about 20 years ago. I was just learning tail wheel and also wanted to fly in the mountains. It was pretty good.
Key words: "survival vest", "406 ELT", "Down drafts", "lowered the nose and broke the stall" (with higher obstacles ahead), "flames"............ and the rest WOW! What impressed me is how little distance he walked in many hours. Also SAR flying right over they did not see him. Lots of lessons to be learned. Comments about vertical impact G's verses horizontal G's and survivability where a real eye opener. The survival VEST idea is golden. Thanks.
Down drafts can be so strong you can't out climb them. I'm not sure they would have made it with with out the big JC (not the pilot in the story). But the pilot did the right thing, did not stall and flew the plane. The only thing Sparky implied I dispute, it took an experienced or professional pilot to not stall. Every new or experienced private pilot should be able to recognize and break a stall with min altitude loss by rote or instinct. Practice your stalls and stall recovery at a safe altitude, today, not once every two year during a flt review. It might save your life some day. (stalls: power on, power off, accelerated, turning or climbing or combo, over and over till its instinct.) Of course lowering the nose when hard stuff is ahead is hard to do, but its better to fly into it under control than spin in.