BELLINGHAM â A near tragedy in the Whatcom County back country was averted when members of the Bellingham Mountain Rescue Council managed to find and lead a splitboarder who became lost near Artist Point to safety Sunday evening. "It was a great outcome," Bellingham Mountain Rescue Council's Chuck Foster told The Bellingham Herald. "It could have turned bad real easy, because he didn't have long when we found him." Despite Sunday's happy outcome, Foster said everyone who heads out into the back country this winter should take some valuable lessons from the experience. Bellingham Mountain Rescue received notification at approximately 5:30 p.m. Dec. 27 of a man who had become lost while splitboarding â a snowboard that can be separated into two ski-like halves and used to climb in back country settings â outside the Mt. Baker Ski Area near Artist Point, Foster reported.