Amid high avalanche warnings in the San Juan County, one man is lucky to be alive.
The unnamed skier was with his friend just south of Silverton on Monday, January 9, when weather conditions deteriorated. Realizing they weren’t on the right path, the pair attempted to ski down a slope to U.S. 550.
According to Jim Donovan, Director of the Silverton Avalanche School, that’s when things went downhill, literally. The pair’s attempt to make it to the highway caused an avalanche to crack on the slope, pulling one man over a 25 ft. cliff before burying him under four feet of packed snow.
Using a beacon locator, the other skier was able to locate his friend and begin digging.
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Lime Creek slide left a backcountry skier buried in the middle of U.S. 550 with 4 feet of packed snow above his head. Photo courtesy of Sallie Barney.[/caption]
In a spectacular stroke of fate, Mike Barney, an avalanche professional with experience in Alaska, South America, and Iceland, was returning to Silverton with his wife when he came across the snow-covered roadway. Seeing a backpack on the snow and a skier digging, he knew someone was trapped.
Barney, who travels with avalanche gear, began digging alongside the skier’s friend and another good samaritan who stopped to help.
Statistics show that about 90% of avalanche victims can be recovered alive if they are dug out within the first 5 minutes. However, after 45 minutes, only 20-30% are still alive - after two hours, almost no one is alive.”
Once they were able to reach his airway, Barney asked the man if he could breathe and was met with a clear ‘Yes’. The trapped skier had employed his Avalung, a device designed for backcountry skiers and snowboarders to breathe in the event that they’re trapped under an avalanche.
Neither skier suffered any injuries - a rare occurrence when avalanches are involved. Nearly 400 avalanches have been recorded since the beginning of 2017 according to the
Colorado Avalanche Information Center.
