Avalanche survivor shares his story
The right gear (and knowing how to use it) saved his life.
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“I knew I didn’t have much time before I’d be asphyxiated.”
That was the last thing that backcountry skier Dan remembered after being buried beneath snow. It went from a great day to hell in a heartbeat. Thinking on their feet, his friends and fellow skiers, Matt and Tom, instantly turned on their beacons and started to search the area.
The two rushed to get their probes together. They hit Dan with a probe, but he was six feet deep, and they knew the odds of survival were slim. Following a desperate frenzy of shoveling the snow, they uncovered Dan. When they found him, his face was blue. As he took a breath, all three men burst into tears.
See what one store in Jackson, Wyoming does to promote avalanche awareness.
“I really feel like I got a second chance at life,” Dan says. “My friends all had the right equipment. They had a beacon, a shovel, and probes, and more importantly, they all knew how to use them.”
This video by the avalanche awareness program, Know Before You Go, tells their story and will definitely encourage you to be properly equipped when heading out on the mountain. Watch the video now:
