Industry News
After being buried under snow for over an hour, a man beat the odds of surviving an avalanche near Vail Pass, Colorado. The avalanche occurred around 12:00 p.m. on February 17 on Shrine Mountain, west of Vail Pass. The man was snowmobiling with a friend when the two set off an avalanche that buried one of them. The friend who was not buried in the avalanche attempted to use his avalanche rescue transceiver to locate the other man but was unable to. He immediately called 911 for help, and the Summit County Sheriff’s Deputies and Summit Country Rescue Group responded to the accident.
The rescue team consisted of 27 Summit County Rescue Group members and four dogs, after being notified of the avalanche at 12:11 p.m. The Rapid Avalanche Deployment Team also responded with one dog, a handler, and an avalanche technician from Copper Mountain. In addition, Summit County Sheriff’s Office responded with two additional personnel and equipment.
At 1:13 p.m., a rescuer on the debris field saw a small piece of fabric right at the surface. It was a portion of an airbag that the man who was buried in the avalanche had inflated. After being buried for approximately 65 minutes, the man was uncovered and dug out. According to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC), he was conscious, breathing, and able to converse with rescuers. The CAIC stated he appeared to be suffering from early stages of hypothermia.
The avalanche was approximately 150 meters wide and ran close to 100 meters deep. The man was buried approximately 0.6 to 0.7 meters deep in the avalanche. On the day of the avalanche, the CAIC rated the avalanche risk at Level 4 out of 5 for the day, which is high. The CAIC stated that the man was extremely fortunate to have been located alive.
- Related: Study Finds Avalanche Victims With Long Burial Times (>60 Minutes) Have Only 19% Chance of Survival
According to most avalanche experts and the CAIC, a person buried in an avalanche has the best chance of survival if they are dug out within the first 15 minutes. Survival rates after the first 15 minutes drop significantly after that time period. After 45 minutes of being buried in an avalanche, only a small percentage of victims are likely to still be alive, and after two hours, survival is extremely rare, according to the CAIC. Unfortunately, the 2024-25 season has seen 11 avalanche fatalities so far. Those incidents occurred in California, Oregon, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and Nevada.
