TUKTOYAKTUK - A helicopter rescued a 31-year-old Tuktoyaktuk man after a two-day search in -40 C wind chill, high wind gusts and blowing snow.

Tuktoyaktuk resident Lucky Pokiak, 31, was found alive between Tuk and Inuvik Dec. 27 after being reported missing two days earlier. - ˆ

Lucky Pokiak was found Dec. 27, more than 48 hours after his family - many of whom gathered to await his safe return - had reported him missing on Christmas Day.

RCMP would not immediately release Pokiak's identity or comment on his condition, awaiting a proper assessment once he arrived back in Tuk, but his family confirmed he was found safe at Bonneville Point between Inuvik and Tuk, just before 3:30 p.m. and was warming up there. Just before Pokiak was found, a search and rescue Hercules aircraft from the Canadian Forces base at Trenton, Ont. had departed on its way to the Beaufort Sea coastal community.

Pokiak had set out on the 190-km drive back to Tuk from Inuvik via snowmobile around 2 p.m. Dec. 24, and told family members he might camp out overnight depending on how tired he was by then. But when no one had heard from him by late Christmas afternoon, his family got worried.

Tuk RCMP Const. Philip Unger said police, Rangers and a search party comprising seven Tuk and Inuvik residents, headed by Eddie Dillon, set out on snowmobiles, checking cabins around Husky Lakes and travelled halfway to Inuvik looking for any sign of Pokiak. A helicopter patrol of Husky Lakes began Dec. 26. Later that day, one of the ground search teams came upon a snowmobile track they thought could be his, but they were low on fuel so they camped out at a cabin for the night. Meanwhile, more ground and air searches were conducted until residents on snowmobiles finally found Pokiak.

Unger said the 31-year-old, who has worked as a whale hunter and wildlife observer, was known as being capably self-sufficient on outdoor excursions.

"The individual is very good on the land. We're not sure if there were any other factors," he said.

Pokiak had left Inuvik with 15 litres of extra fuel and was equipped with a tent and camp stove but had very little food.

His cousin, Melanie Keevik, said the whole family worried about Pokiak during the lengthy ordeal, especially since the search parties didn't gather full steam until Boxing Day. Some relatives cried tears of happiness upon hearing he was safe.

"Honestly, I knew he'd be OK because I grew up with him in Reindeer Point as a kid and to me he was always powerful and smart. We always could look up to him because he was smart that way and I knew he'd be able to survive, but it was really scary for everyone because it was so cold out," she said. "Lucky was lucky this time."

Pokiak is one of three residents to have been temporarily missing while travelling from Inuvik to Tuk since September 2010, when the ice started to freeze enough for snowmobiles. All were found alive.