AVY IN REVY! its here and for real!

[mrcoops]

I am not a man who expresses himself well in person, so I want to thank, from the bottom of my heart the two individuals who kept there wits about them (you know who you are Jeff and Randy, and my family is indebted to you) and were able to over come all ODDS to dig me and Riley out of our snow caskets. We were in frisby at the back in deadmans creek (maybe not the best decision!). Anyway we dropped in at 300pm bc thinking this may not be the best decision, got almost to the bottom and realized there was no safe way out the bottom. person x went a bit further and lost his nuts, decided it was best to dig in and try to come out the top. I removed my pack and helmet and proceeded hike down to help turn his sled around. We turned his sled around and as he regained his breath I began to hike back up. he hit the throttle and begin his minny adventure back up. Randy made it 50 yards and the slope broke, we all thought,"wow get the cameras this is going to be funny", then the slope fractured above him!!! I had literally 2 seconds to break into stride to head for the trees when a wave of snow hit me and covered me. the same wave knocked Riley off my sled had who was trying to see where randy was headed. The wave knocked riley off my sled and into a tree where my sled pinned his legs against it, he had no idea what hit him. that same wave carried jeff and his sled 50 yard down the hill. jeff scrambled to pull his avy bag cord 3 times but did not deploy. at that point jeff mad a decision to start scrambling for a tree as he was headed for a cliff. at this point I was barried with only my hand sticking out and I was frantically trying to clear snow away from my face, then a third slide came and burried me 3 feet under and it was like being concreted into the ground, I could not even blink the snow was packed so tight around me. from what I was told jeff was only haging on by a tree from being washed over the cliff after the third slide came. Randy who was on the sled some how miraculisly was able to avoid all 3 slides after being tossed and turned on his sled and managed to ride it out ( act of god, or something, call it what you want). all the avy's settled and riley was buring 5 feet under pinned by the sled and I was compacted like a garbage truck 3 feet under. Randy said he began immediate panic mode and began yelling for anyone left uncovered, as he could not see anyone or know where any one ended up. Jeff yelled out from 150 yards below, " I am here". randy ran all the way down to jeff to check his status, then they turned on there beacons and got a signal 50 yard up and 50 yards down (which would have been over the cliff) they scrambled up and down the slope to determine where the upper signal was coming from and were able to find Riley's signal after roughly 5-10 minutes, took 5 minutes to uncover rileys face and then a few more minutes to shut his beacon off. Riley was in severe pain as his knees and legs were pinned between a tree and my sled (which has landed him in Vernon emergency for surgery as a result). After getting riley air and his beacon shut off randy and jeff began ther search for number 2, me, just so happens they were standing on me the whole time they were digging out riley, but because we were so close the most recent ortovox avy beacons could not differentiate the two. Randy noticed a black spot through the snow (my belaclava) and frantically began digging. He uncovered my face and found a blue and purple corpse (literally), he said I was not breathing nor responsive. he continued to uncover my chest and abdomin, yelling "breath XXXXX, breath XXXXX!) I apparantly blinked very slowly and gasped a tiny breath of air. I do not rember much untill about 30 miniutes after I was pulled out of the hole. They continued to work on riley as he was pinned down. after all was said and done we ended up hiking/quadrupling off the hill with the remaining sled. worst scenario ever!!!!

ps.
being barried alive is the worst thing on the planet, your lungs affixiate and the pain is unbearable, then you begin haluciating and thinking you can just take a nap and it will all be OK! when you get to that stage think of anything you can to keep you consious, kids, wife, girfriend, sled, job, whatever it takes to hang on for an extra 30 seconds, because I assure you it will count. I am sure this blurb does not do the justis to the trials and tribulations my barried partner went through, nor our other two friends (who happened to save our lives) went through.

PSS, avy is out there, ride with caution!!!
__________________

[Sledderglen]

Wow thats a good story. Hope all riders heading to the hills are extra carefull right now. Glad you guys made it out. Hug your wife and kids when you get home.

Thanks again for the report

[Zacs]

Thank you for sharing. We are all learning from your words.

Best wishes for a fast recovery for you and your companions...physically and mentally. What a scary experience. Hats off to the fast thinking work of your companions!

[wapos]

Thanks for the info, glad you are still with us!!! Hope everyone who reads this and is thinking of going ridding tomorrow will stop to consider how much new snow we have and how sketch things will be for the next little while...

[rgutmann]

Thanks for sharing this with us and that all involved made it out. Also you mentioned the the avy bag not deploying (I have a snow pulse). Sometimes these things give a false sense of protection and then we over look other signs that we need to pay attention to. I believe that we all come away with something from these type of posts and mine is not to rely soley on deployment of a avy bag. Thanks again.

[tmix]

You definetly had angels on your side. Very scary! Hats off to the very quick thinking to keep all of you alive. It is the worst fear for such a great sport. Thanks for sharing your story.

[m7mod]

just glad you guys made it out

[helgy]

Kerry

That scares the hell out of me, we can`t be too careful. Come to Stewart and we`ll have a beer. We humans are so fragile.... Im glad you all are going to be ok, against the odds.

Colin

[shawn800]

awsome to hear you guys made it out , ride safe and good luck to your friend in the hospital

[summitshawn]

Glad to hear u guys made it out alive, most stories of avalache victims dont have a happy ending. I wish your friend all the best and a speedy recovery.

[plurk]

glad that everyone got out alive! hey you sledders, along with a beacon you should invest a couple of dollars in a SPOT. this amazing device could just save you and your friends. check out SPOT . it is a life saver, and peace of mind for the familys and friends that are at home, while you play.

[1nv8r17]

Amazing story!!! SCARY!!! Your message hits home, I fear the mountain. Pretty foolish to believe we are invincible, until mother nature corrects us. I have sent this story onto my friends that ride and board.

[Orange Hurricane]

Thanks so much for letting us know what happened.... I am looking at AVYPACKS right now!! which one did your friend have so I can stay away from that brand!!

Thanks

Kevin