Ive had many requests since this incident to post this story in detail. The purpose is to inform people of the reality and danger of avalanches. Ok, well where do I begin....I will try to recover more of the factual part of this story and not so much the emotional part which might be a little more difficult because I can remember my thoughts and feelings a lot better than what was actually happening. I am not exagerating anything, if anything I am underestimating the actual events that occured.
Anyways, on Dec. 5th a friend and I went on a quick little night ride in an area very familiar to us, I have been riding there for over 10 years. It is located in the Big Hole mountain range, 15 miles northeast of Idaho Falls, ID. There is nothing real steep and scary, its just a fun area to play around and boondock in. Typically one would not think to wear avalanche beacons in this type of area. There is one hill, however, that is good for climbing and highmarking. It is wide open, about 500 yards vertical, and about 1/3 mile wide. It is known as Death Valley. In the 10 years I have ridden in this area, I have never seen that hill slide. I thought it was safe. I was wrong. We unloaded our sleds around 4:45 p.m. and got to Death Valley around 5:00 p.m. The sun had already set as we began to climb and highmark each other. The snow was about 2 feet deep and had the consistency of snowball snow. We each made several attempts to get to the top. As we took our turns, it was my turn to try to get to the top.
I climbed up, made the highmark, sidehilled for about 20 yards and as I was turning down, I could feel the whole mountain start to slide like a giant river. I got knocked off my sled and traded blows with my sled as it rolled over me and I over it. I was completely helpless because the snow had such a heavy consistency. I knew I had to try and swim but it did me no good. The snow was simply too heavy to do anything. As I was sliding down in the avalanche, the wall of snow hit my friend and sent him flying through the air and took him about 75 yards or so across the flat. He was partially buried and his sled was completely buried.
When the snow came to a stop I had to ether choose to make an air pocket in front of my face or thrust an arm in the general direction I thought was up, due to the 100% loss of orientation. I simply did not have enough time because of the heavy snow to do both. I thrust my arm in the direction of least resistance and came to a stop. I could hear the snow continue to pile on top of me. It was incredibly heavy and I was getting crushed. I could not breathe at all because of the pressure on my rib cage. I could slightly move my arm and I moved it around as best I could (which wasnt much at all) hoping for anything. Doing so made the snow settle a little bit above the area of movement. This little area was about the size of a pop can. I only lasted 20 seconds or so under that tremendous weight and the last thing I remember is the agony of suffocating to death. I said a little prayer and then I was gone.
In the meantime, my friend had to dig himself out first before he got to me. He doesnt remember anything about how he got out or how long it took but he does remember being at least partially buried. He ran to where he could see the tip of my snowmobile ski sticking out of the snow and was scanning the snow chunks to see any clue as to where I was. Thats when he saw the spot where the snow had sunk. He figured that was as good of a spot as any to start digging. Using his shovel he dug down a couple feet and found my arm that was sticking up. He continued to dig and dig and finally made it to my helmet which was packed with snow. It took him quite some time to clear out enough snow so that he could get my helmet off. Who knows how much time had passed by then but he estimates it was around 7 minutes.
He said I lay there not breathing and my eyes were wide open. I was dead. He cleared the snow out of my mouth and continued to dig the snow out from around me so he could do CPR if needed. As he cleared the snow from around my chest I started to breathe real slowly. This gave him even more hope that I had a fighting chance. He continued to dig and yell and I eventually came to. It took me awhile to realize where I was and what had happened and I looked up at him and said "I'm alright, I'm alright." He looked as if he had seen a ghost because he was almost certain I wasnt going to return. He had pushed his body so hard and so fast from digging that he was throwing up and coughing up blood. He saved my life. It still took a while to dig me out but eventually I was set free. It was completely dark by now. We called some friends to come up and help us dig our sleds out because we were completely exhausted. They came to our rescue and 5 hours later I was safe and home.
There was obviously a ton of luck involved in this story and several miracles. The fact that he was able to dig himself out, find where I was immediately without a beacon, dig me out in that amount of time, and me coming back to life; Its incredible. Unfortunately there are too many that dont experience the luck that I had. I never thought that an avalanche, especially one of that magnitude, would occur in that area. It goes to show that anything can happen in any given amount of time. I cant stress enough the importance of knowing what to do in such circumstances, and having the right equipment i.e. shovels, beacons, extra clothes, etc. I am lucky enough to still be living and I know that people die in a lot less than what I went through. Pay attention to the avalanche forecasts, they arent suggestions, they are in reality the law. I am 25 years old and I almost lost my life on Dec. 5 2007. Hopefully this story will help save at least one person somewhere out there. Be safe and be smart.
Anyways, on Dec. 5th a friend and I went on a quick little night ride in an area very familiar to us, I have been riding there for over 10 years. It is located in the Big Hole mountain range, 15 miles northeast of Idaho Falls, ID. There is nothing real steep and scary, its just a fun area to play around and boondock in. Typically one would not think to wear avalanche beacons in this type of area. There is one hill, however, that is good for climbing and highmarking. It is wide open, about 500 yards vertical, and about 1/3 mile wide. It is known as Death Valley. In the 10 years I have ridden in this area, I have never seen that hill slide. I thought it was safe. I was wrong. We unloaded our sleds around 4:45 p.m. and got to Death Valley around 5:00 p.m. The sun had already set as we began to climb and highmark each other. The snow was about 2 feet deep and had the consistency of snowball snow. We each made several attempts to get to the top. As we took our turns, it was my turn to try to get to the top.
I climbed up, made the highmark, sidehilled for about 20 yards and as I was turning down, I could feel the whole mountain start to slide like a giant river. I got knocked off my sled and traded blows with my sled as it rolled over me and I over it. I was completely helpless because the snow had such a heavy consistency. I knew I had to try and swim but it did me no good. The snow was simply too heavy to do anything. As I was sliding down in the avalanche, the wall of snow hit my friend and sent him flying through the air and took him about 75 yards or so across the flat. He was partially buried and his sled was completely buried.
When the snow came to a stop I had to ether choose to make an air pocket in front of my face or thrust an arm in the general direction I thought was up, due to the 100% loss of orientation. I simply did not have enough time because of the heavy snow to do both. I thrust my arm in the direction of least resistance and came to a stop. I could hear the snow continue to pile on top of me. It was incredibly heavy and I was getting crushed. I could not breathe at all because of the pressure on my rib cage. I could slightly move my arm and I moved it around as best I could (which wasnt much at all) hoping for anything. Doing so made the snow settle a little bit above the area of movement. This little area was about the size of a pop can. I only lasted 20 seconds or so under that tremendous weight and the last thing I remember is the agony of suffocating to death. I said a little prayer and then I was gone.
In the meantime, my friend had to dig himself out first before he got to me. He doesnt remember anything about how he got out or how long it took but he does remember being at least partially buried. He ran to where he could see the tip of my snowmobile ski sticking out of the snow and was scanning the snow chunks to see any clue as to where I was. Thats when he saw the spot where the snow had sunk. He figured that was as good of a spot as any to start digging. Using his shovel he dug down a couple feet and found my arm that was sticking up. He continued to dig and dig and finally made it to my helmet which was packed with snow. It took him quite some time to clear out enough snow so that he could get my helmet off. Who knows how much time had passed by then but he estimates it was around 7 minutes.
He said I lay there not breathing and my eyes were wide open. I was dead. He cleared the snow out of my mouth and continued to dig the snow out from around me so he could do CPR if needed. As he cleared the snow from around my chest I started to breathe real slowly. This gave him even more hope that I had a fighting chance. He continued to dig and yell and I eventually came to. It took me awhile to realize where I was and what had happened and I looked up at him and said "I'm alright, I'm alright." He looked as if he had seen a ghost because he was almost certain I wasnt going to return. He had pushed his body so hard and so fast from digging that he was throwing up and coughing up blood. He saved my life. It still took a while to dig me out but eventually I was set free. It was completely dark by now. We called some friends to come up and help us dig our sleds out because we were completely exhausted. They came to our rescue and 5 hours later I was safe and home.
There was obviously a ton of luck involved in this story and several miracles. The fact that he was able to dig himself out, find where I was immediately without a beacon, dig me out in that amount of time, and me coming back to life; Its incredible. Unfortunately there are too many that dont experience the luck that I had. I never thought that an avalanche, especially one of that magnitude, would occur in that area. It goes to show that anything can happen in any given amount of time. I cant stress enough the importance of knowing what to do in such circumstances, and having the right equipment i.e. shovels, beacons, extra clothes, etc. I am lucky enough to still be living and I know that people die in a lot less than what I went through. Pay attention to the avalanche forecasts, they arent suggestions, they are in reality the law. I am 25 years old and I almost lost my life on Dec. 5 2007. Hopefully this story will help save at least one person somewhere out there. Be safe and be smart.
