At approximately 2pm TNSAR was called out by Placer County Sheriff Dept for a lost snowboarder off the backside of Alpine Meadows near Grouse Rock. The subject had ridden up Summit chair with his friend and hiked up towards Ward peak radio towers. Immediately the two became separated by poor visibility and the subject headed West into Grouse Creek drainage. Upon realizing his mistake the subject used his cell phone to call his friend and ski patrol. Alpine Meadows ski patrol responded by sending 2 patrollers who were able to find his tracks but would not have been able to get him out before dark. At 2:30pm 3 TNSAR skiers loaded summit chair and headed South along the Pacific Crest in 50 mph winds and riming conditions which iced up goggles within seconds of being scraped . The subject was able to send his current location coordinates to dispatch which the 3 TNSAR skiers used to navigate directly to him. The subject was cold and tired but able to hike out on snowshoes. The 3 TNSAR skiers and the subject reached Grouse Rock at dark around 5pm. The 3 TNSAR skied and subject snowboarded down Grouse ridge to meet an Alpine Meadows Snowcat around 5:45pm. All teams were out of the field and back at Alpine Meadows ski patrol by 6:15pm.