Beer, a survival aid, not just for drinking anymore. A driver stranded in snow for three days at temperatures of minus 17 outside Nome, Alaska, has survived by eating frozen beer. As you read the story you might be thinking, well at least he survived. It was a very close call for Clifton Vial, 52.

Get the rest of the story after the jump.

Uncharacteristically Clifton was unprepared for the situation, he was wearing jeans and a thin coat – not protective enough to dig himself out of the snow without getting frostbite.

And with no signal on his cellphone, he had to sit and wait for his colleagues to realize he was missing.

He kept warm in a fleece sleeping bag and by wrapping a bath towel around his feet, and would occasionally start the truck to run the heater. He stuffed rags in his clothes and unraveled tissue paper, pushing it down around his feet.

After searching the truck, he found only three cans of frozen Coors Light. Three days after he first became stranded in the snow, rescuers pulled up behind his pick-up.

They gave him a Snickers bar it seemed too dry to eat, he said and an orange soda. Clifton planned to see a doctor Friday, then return to work. He showed no signs of frostbite.

Note to self, maybe a couple cans of beer should go into the winter survival kit.


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