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SANIRAJAK/HALL BEACH - A Hall Beach man returned home safely last week thanks to the efforts of the local search and rescue team.

The man left for Iglulik at about 5 p.m. on Nov. 29. He was reported missing when the neighbouring community notified Hall Beach he hadn't reached his destination.

Before calling in the rest of his team, search and rescue co-ordinator Paul Haulli recruited a couple of friends and went out on the land to see if they could find the missing man.

"We went to Iglulik," Haulli said. "Then we took different routes on the way back from Iglulik and then we went back to Hall Beach because we didn't see anything on the trail, so we had to call search and rescue. That's when we really started looking for him."

Const. Ian Johnson of the Hall Beach RCMP was full of praise for the search and rescue teams last week.

"They're one of the best search and rescue teams I've ever seen," he said. "Especially Paul Haulli and his team. They were great."

Once the proper authorities were contacted, the first team headed out.

"The first search and rescue team was unsuccessful," said Haulli. "So we sent four search and rescue teams along with myself and we worked together."

The teams found a single trail of Ski-Doo and kamik tracks and followed them until they found the man who had been stranded only a short distance from Iglulik.

"Apparently, his Ski-Doo broke down and he was able to make a little shelter with his qamutiiq with snow and all that," said Haulli. "He was a bit cold, hungry, but he was OK."

Anne Curley, another co-ordinator for Hall Beach's search and rescue, has worked with the team since 1989.

"When the missing person or persons are found safely, it feels like you've succeeded," she said.

Haulli said it's not uncommon for people to get stranded between Iglulik and Hall Beach given the frequency the route is travelled.

"So many people travel back and forth between Hall Beach to Iglulik, but we try to advise the public in both communities to make sure you guys bring a sled or enough food or enough gas," he said. "Because the communities are very close, this is one of the highest search and rescues that we do."