Day 11: I survived an avalanche today

 
First, here's one of the many related news articles - this made statewide news and I was interviewed by Fox 31, CBS 4, and the Summit County News:

This is a picture I took after crawling my way out of the slide area. No, this is not a joke, and it is totally a coincidence that Dom posted that avalanche warning this morning, while I was on the pass hiking.

I met Amy at the top of the pass around 10am, and started our hike out. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and there were many people at the pass for a Tuesday. The snow looked very good in places, and we decided to try for one of the higher lines. We'd later learn that was the stupidest idea ever.

Got up to the summit just after noon, and after a break and a snack, decided to drop in. We did examine the snow extensively at the top of the ridge, and there didn't appear to be any slabbing, wind loading, cracking, or other signs of instability on the surface. The snow was firm, and at the top, appeared to be well baked.

I still had a funny feeling, but I've ridden that line many times in the past, and knew I just had to be careful. I dropped over the ridge and made 2-3 very firm turns, and everything looked good. Took my first soft turn and sunk fairly far, but nothing out of the ordinary. As I came back around heelside, facing down the slope, I heard Amy scream at me.

A HUGE slab had formed right under me, 300ft wide, and I was on it, at the top of a 40 degree slope with over 400ft of vertical to the gully below.

Immediately everything went silent for me. I became laser focused on my feet and the feel of the ground under me. I could instantly feel the moving snow start to pull me in, and at that point I made the conscious decision to point downhill and ride with it. Immediately my board bobbed back up to the top, and all I remember is a distinct feeling of everything under me moving and churning like water. It felt a lot like what I imagine surfing would be like.

All I could see was a yellow glow that I knew was up, and I could feel my feet and the ground under me. I basically pointed down the hill and managed to ride and stay on my feet for the majority of the slide, riding it like a wave down the mountain. As the slide flattened out at the base of the main slope, it sucked me in and (while I don't remember it at the time) smacked me into the ground, resulting in a pretty bad bruise on my left elbow and hip. This is the the only time that I was completely submerged and lost sight of the light above.

I immediately began 'swimming' upwards and within one or two strokes my head popped up again. Much of the dust had settled, and I found myself slowly sliding to a stop on top of the slide about 5-10 yards from the edge of the slidepath. I was basically unscathed.

Amy followed my directions and was able to ski out above the slide, through some rocks on the left of the slidepath. She skied down to me immediately and was able to help free me from my board and my modest snow chair. She claims that I dissappeared into the melee almost immediately and she had no idea at all where I was. It is basically a miracle that I was able to stay on my feet for so long and avoid getting cheese grated on the rocks, keep myself on the edge of the slidepath and away from tumbling debris, and end up unburied and in a position to extract myself.