Sunday, Dec. 31, 2006 started out as a normal hiking day ..... just a nice 8-10 mile hike along the continental divide to Torres Peak and back, beginning and ending at Loveland Pass. The hike ended up with us fighting for our lives by taking a shortcut down the side of the mountain much faster than we bargained for ..... by avalanche.
My son Mark and I started hiking at about 8:30 a.m. It was a beautiful sunny, but very cold day. The temperature was about 8 degrees, and the winds were blowing at a good clip, which I'm sure put the wind chill factor in the negative numbers. This is no big deal since Mark and I have climbed 50 of Colorado's 14ers in the last several years and are typically well prepared for all types of weather and terrain.
On the way back we spotted route 6 and decided that instead of going back the way we came ..... hiking along the ridge ...... we would take a short cut down the side of the mountain and catch a ride up to our vehicle at the pass. We did a preliminary avalanche assessment and figured the risk was minimal since we didn't think the snow was that deep and that the snow was not that heavy since it had not gone through many freeze/thaw cycles. We certainly were not properly prepared for hiking in avalanche prone areas and we knew it. We thought we were taking the necessary precautions but, as we were about to find out, we didn't.
As we started down the slope the snow turned out to be more than waist deep so we started to slide down on our backsides to minimize the amount we would sink into the snow. Approximately half way down the slope the snow started cracking and within a second we were tumbling down the mountainside under the snow being thrown about at the mercy of the avalanche.
When the avalanche stopped I was buried 2 to 4 feet under the snow unable to breathe and not knowing which way was up. I freed one hand and cleared the snow away from my face, mouth and chest. After an avalanche, the snow is tightly compacted as a result of the weight of tons and tons of snow being hurled down the mountainside. It took me approximately 20 minutes to free myself, all the while thinking about the fate of my son.
I found my son Mark about 20 feet away buried between under 2 to 6 feet of snow.
He was buried at an angle with his feet buried the deepest. He had already managed to clear snow away from his face and seemed to be breathing normally. However, he was shivering uncontrollably since he was packed in the snow ...... the equivalent of being encased in an ice cube. It took about 20 minutes to free him. We knew we were not out of trouble yet since we were still in the chute of the avalanche and the slopes around us were unstable. We managed to make our way to a small grove of trees beside the avalanche chute.
As we looked down the slope we noticed the Summit County Search and Rescue Team making their way up the slope. We met them about half way down at which time they gave us snow shoes to help us walk the rest of the way down the slope. At the bottom we were checked out by the ambulance crew.
The Search and Rescue Team said that in an avalanche of this magnitude there is a survival rate of 1percent and that they had pulled many bodies out of avalanches about half of which were not buried as deep or in an avalanche this severe. The Summit county Sheriff, who gave us a ride back up to our vehicle at the summit told us we are now part of an elite group ....... Avalanche Survivors. In one sense I feel proud and happy to be part of that group and in another sense embarrassed.
My son and I are very fortunate and we certainly realize that. I can't remember how many times I heard the terms "incredibly lucky" that day. I was asked by a Fox News Anchorwoman, "Given that you have just survived an avalanche with a 1percent survival rate and even walked away uninjured to what do you attribute your survival. To my son and I the answer is quite simple ...... God is not finished with us yet!
About the writer: Stan Gingrichlives in Monument, andworks asaManagement Consultant allover the United States.