TRUCKEE, Calif. -- Two Bay Area snowboarders, lost in a weekend blizzard that covered the Sierra ski areas with more than two feet of new snow, were safe and well Monday after a pair of dramatic late night rescues.

Thomas Groh, 17, and Ryan Toni, 35, were both separated from friends and lost their way in the backwoods area of two popular Tahoe ski resorts. Groh was at the Northstar Ski Resort when he became lost on Saturday.

Toni, meanwhile, was snowboarding with a friend at the Diamond Peak Ski Resort when they became separated on Sunday afternoon.

Groh, a soccer standout at Novato's Branson School, became disoriented on one of Northstar's runs and went the wrong direction, finding himself alone in the woods without any idea where he was.

"It was 9 o'clock or whatever, you don't know if they are going to find you," Groh said. "My cell phone ran out of batteries…It's the fear of the unknown."

Before his phone went dead, Groh was able to contact his friends and give them a description of where he was.

"Finally, he got into area with (cell) service and he called me," one of Groh's friends said. "I was like 'Dude, everyone is out looking for you, where are you?' He was like 'I don't know.'"

Rescuers located Groh at about 10:30 p.m. and he was taken back to the resort in good condition.

"I saw the flare and said 'Thank God,'" Groh said. "It was the best feeling ever."

Toni was reported missing at 5:30 p.m. Sunday. A massive search involving 45 people from the Diamond Peak Ski Patrol, North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection, Washoe County Search and Rescue, Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue and the Placer County Sheriff's Department was launched immediately.

He was found holed up in an empty cabin outside the boundary of the ski resort at 10:48 p.m.

"This is amazing," said Toni's friend Jason Montgomery of his recovery. "To find someone so fast, you are the best…Thank you so much."