A team of two Whitehorse climbers say it was more luck than anything that saw them not need rescuing last month from Mount Logan in southwest Yukon.

Their ordeal unfolded at the same time another team of climbers had to be rescued from the mountain ten days ago and hospitalized in Anchorage.

'We just sort of felt like we were in a tomb,' local resident Judy Hartling said in an interview Friday of waiting out the storm in the tent with co-climber Rudy Sudrich.

Last month's attempt by the pair to summit Canada's highest peak in Kluane National Park marked their third try at the climb.

As they reached a crevasse near Prospectors Col. at around 5,300 metres, a storm started without any warning, Sudrich said in an interview Friday. Within five minutes, it was in full whiteout mode, with winds moving up to 50 kilometres an hour.

'We stopped and made camp immediately,' Hartling said, adding it was really a question of luck for the pair as winds continued to climb upwards of 140 km/ h.

'Our biggest worry was whether the tent would hold,' she said.

Hartling used the satellite phone they had brought along to contact the Kluane Park warden, who told them about the group of B.C. climbers who were having problems.

Though they tried looking for where those climbers would be, under the impression they were nearby, Hartling and Sudrich couldn't see them. The group would end up being rescued by another team of climbers.

'We had no clear (idea) where people are,' Sudrich said.

Though they were able to speak to the park warden a couple of times, on the third phone call, they could not get through. They were also able to reach Hartling's husband and let him know the situation, who in turn was in contact with Sudrich's family.

As they continued to wait out the storm inside the tent, Sudrich and Hartling dressed in their winter gear, which included jackets, mitts, hats, and snowpants, in case they had to immediately escape the tent, which was slowly beginning to cave in. They also organized their equipment as best they could for what Sudrich described as Plan B.

At one point, they found themselves writing notes to their families in case the worst was to happen.

Sudrich attempted to get out of the tent during the ordeal, which saw temperatures reach approximately -25 C. That was when the pair got dressed in full gear and organized their equipment.

It was the following day, at around 1 p.m., that the storm let up and Sudrich and Hartling were able to leave the tent safely, with Surich 'pawing' the way out under approximately four feet of snow, Hartling said.

While he estimated the storm to have lasted from 6 p.m. to 1 p.m. the following day, Sudrich noted: 'In my mind, it was just a terrible night.'

Despite the experience, they continued to push towards the summit, but the weather continued to be unpredictable, with only around a couple of hours per day of climbing time.

After five days, they decided they would end the climb and began descending the mountain. It took a total of four days to reach the bottom, where they learned they had just missed another major storm on the way down.

Just two hours after they left one section of the mountain, it was hit by a major storm.

'It was like playing Russian Roulette,' Sudrich said, pointing to the luck they twice had in dealing with one storm and missing the other.

'It was just the luck of the draw,' he said.

While Hartling has been climbing for 25 years, she said she hasn't done a lot of high-altitude climbs and hadn't seen anything like the weather experienced on Mount Logan last month.

She said one storm shouldn't stop someone from making another climb if that's what they want to do, but she doesn't think she will be making more high-altitude climbs because it's not a priority for her.

'I don't know if I want to experience that again,' she said.

Despite the storm, Hartling noted the beauty of the area in the climb.

Whether Sudrich decides to attempt such a climb again will largely depend on his loved ones.

'I'll consult with my family,' he said.

It's one thing for a climber to decide to take risks, but it's the family of that climber who can also end up suffering the consequences, he said.