A 20-year-old snowboarder who ended up trapped in a gully after going out-of-bounds on Cypress had to spend a frigid night outdoors before being rescued.

North Shore Rescue members were briefly able to communicate with the snowboarder via text message on Monday, but assessed the situation and determined conditions were too treacherous to find him before Tuesday morning.

"The big challenge here is we keep having people going out-of-bounds when we have a high avalanche risk," team leader Mike Danks said. "That really puts our members at risk, and that's not something we're willing to do so we really have to be strategic about how we get these guys out."

The snowboarder, who was stuck in an area off the Howe Sound Crest Trail, was airlifted off the mountain by helicopter in a long line rescue before 10 a.m. North Shore Rescue said he was hypothermic, but in good condition considering the circumstances.

The young man, Arsalan Zhunus, told reporters he slept in a snow cave until North Shore Rescue members arrived, and that he "probably" won't be going off-piste again.

"Never get cocky with the mountain," Zhunus said. “I feel very ashamed of just getting myself in that situation because it was so easily avoided. They have ski boundaries for a reason.”

He also thanked the search crews, without whom he most likely would not have survived.

“They literally saved my life. I don’t know where I would be right now,” he said.

North Shore Rescue said there was about 30 centimetres of snowfall in the area overnight, but fortunately temperatures were not brutally cold.

The place where he was stuck is a popular spot for out-of-bounds skiers and snowboarders, Danks said, and is especially dangerous as it's located directly above a waterfall.

Both North Shore Rescue and the West Vancouver Police Department urged everyone to think twice before following in the young man's footsteps.

"We've had a number of fatalities in the past," Danks said. "We're encouraging everybody to stay in bounds." 

Crews are still searching for two missing snowshoers, who have been missing since heading out in the Cypress area on a day trip on Christmas. 

With a report from CTV Vancouver's Nafeesa Karim