Skier recovered alive after 40 minute burial in avalanche

**Platinum Pete** · 02-23-2008, 11:53 PM

I don't know the PDX skier involved, but I am glad he got the help he needed and they didn't give up within the first 39 minutes!

From Yahoo! News:
Skier survives massive Alaska avalanche

By RACHEL D'ORO 17 minutes ago

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A skier was rescued from a massive avalanche that buried him for as many as 40 minutes Saturday near the site where another slide killed two snowmobilers earlier this month.
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Ian Wilson of Portland, Ore., was blue and unresponsive when he was pulled out from 4 feet of snow, but was able to talk before he was transported to an Anchorage hospital, Alaska State Troopers said. The 24-year-old, who was vacationing in Alaska, was later discharged from the hospital, said Lt. Barry Wilson, the statewide search and rescue coordinator.

"It has been an exciting, exciting day," said Wilson, who is not related to the skier. "Nobody died from this latest incident."

The avalanche was reported just five minutes after searchers recovered the body of Christoph Vonalvensleben, 25, one of the snowmobilers killed in the Feb. 15 avalanche in backcountry about 65 miles outside Anchorage.

State transportation workers assisting in the recovery effort saw the avalanche and notified troopers around 2:15 p.m., Wilson said. Within five minutes, volunteer rescuers and search dogs were heading to the new avalanche site three miles away. By the time they arrived, the buried skier, who was wearing a locator beacon, had been found by other skiers, including a medic with the U.S. Forestry Service, Wilson said.

"It was a perfect storm of help," he said. "The odds were in this person's favor for survival."

As many as 25 skiers were in the area of the avalanche, but only one other skier was hit. The skier was knocked down by the slide's powder blast, but not completely submerged in the deep snow.

"He was not hurt as far as I know," Wilson said.

Poor weather had prevented rescuers from recovering Vonalvensleben's body. Also killed in that slide was Jeremy Stark, 25, whose body was recovered Wednesday by a group of friends.

The Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center had warned that avalanche conditions continued in the area.

The recovery effort on Saturday included using explosives to bring down hazardous snowpacks for the safety of searchers, troopers said. Wilson said the explosives were set off four hours before the avalanche and were not considered the cause.

Troopers had warned that the explosives could trigger slides on nearby slopes and urged the public to stay clear of the area.

Avalanches have killed at least 32 people across the West since Dec. 2, according to the U.S. Forest Service National Avalanche Center.

**powdork** · 02-24-2008, 12:14 AM

looks like ian wilson just cashed in on a healthy cache of vibes he was sitting on.
sounds like everything fell his way (including a bunch of snow).
it's good to see the SAR folks rewarded for their hard work instead of pulling up another dead one.

**splat** · 02-24-2008, 12:20 AM

40 minutes is almost beyond believable.

I just can't believe the story about that 'biler who got rescued by his bud after everyone left him for dead last year and his homie who's at home loaded up his sled and went out with a beacon and dug his buddy up. 8 hours later. Alive.

**TJ.Brk** · 02-24-2008, 12:27 AM

Originally Posted by splat

40 minutes is almost beyond believable.

I just can't believe the story about that 'biler who got rescued by his bud after everyone left him for dead last year and his homie who's at home loaded up his sled and went out with a beacon and dug his buddy up. 8 hours later. Alive.

I'm speechless. WOW

Thank God both are OK

**Kellie** · 02-24-2008, 01:41 AM

More info on the TTips thread

Glad to hear he made it out alive and that nobody else was caught - massive slide with lots of people in the area . . .

**Altaholic** · 02-24-2008, 01:46 AM

He lasted for 40 minutes without an avalung???

That bastard has good luck on his side

**powdork** · 02-24-2008, 01:55 AM

that ttips thread is great. seems like it wasn't quite 40 minutes, but the slide was huuuuuudge.

also from that thread

I just talked to a buddy on the ski patrol at Aly and he said the entire north face went this morning when they were firing artillery. Twenty foot crown, which obviously ripped huge, taking rocks and trees with it. "Bigger than the slides associated with th '64 quake." was his quote of the day.

**skiingsamurai** · 02-24-2008, 08:43 AM

Im glad they pulled one out alive. Some good news in the rough season.

Not to hijack, or fuck the thread up; but what the hell goes through your mind when youve been buried for 40 minutes?

**Blurred** · 02-24-2008, 09:22 AM

What does this story have to do with SAR?

By the time they arrived, the buried skier, who was wearing a locator beacon, had been found by other skiers, including a medic with the U.S. Forestry Service, Wilson said.

Seems like the reporting on this story is off, really badly.

Totally stoked for the cat who survived though.

**SkiOrDie** · 02-24-2008, 01:06 PM

Originally Posted by splat

40 minutes is almost beyond believable.

I just can't believe the story about that 'biler who got rescued by his bud after everyone left him for dead last year and his homie who's at home loaded up his sled and went out with a beacon and dug his buddy up. 8 hours later. Alive.

Hey Splat, this just confirms what my old boss used to say: "You don't quit here until you bring home your buddy or you bring home parts of your buddy."

Quitting is always a bad idea.

**Kellie** · 02-25-2008, 03:01 AM

Originally Posted by BlurredElevens

What does this story have to do with SAR?

Seems like the reporting on this story is off, really badly.

Totally stoked for the cat who survived though.

SAR was across the highway recovering the body of a snowmachiner who died a week ago Friday . . . when this avalanche ocurred, they responded because they were in the area, and used the heli to transport the burial victim on Sunburst to Anchorage. Sounds like the guy walked away unscathed though. It also sounds like the ADN reported 40 minute burial, but the reality was 20 minutes . . . still an impressive survival story and great effort on the part of everyone out there.

**RootSkier** · 02-25-2008, 08:58 AM

Originally Posted by splat

I just can't believe the story about that 'biler who got rescued by his bud after everyone left him for dead last year and his homie who's at home loaded up his sled and went out with a beacon and dug his buddy up. 8 hours later. Alive.

There was a lot of fishy shit about that story.

I bet the Ian guy from Alaska is enjoying a VERY tasty beer right now.

**powski3** · 02-25-2008, 11:52 AM

Oregonian story:
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/orego...l=7&thispage=1

Ian Wilson was carrying a beacon, and it enabled his friends to find him quickly.

"It saved his life. There's no way they could have gotten him without the beacon," Steve Wilson said.

Obviously great that his beacon saved his life, but if he was actually buried for 40 mins, I wouldn't exactly call that a quick beacon search.

**Snow Dog** · 02-25-2008, 12:16 PM

"Buried for 40 minutes" is different than "found after 40 minutes". I'm just guessing, but once found and head uncovered there's no real urgency.

Hugh Conway · 02-25-2008, 12:24 PM

Originally Posted by Snow Dog

"Buried for 40 minutes" is different than "found after 40 minutes". I'm just guessing, but once found and head uncovered there's no real urgency.

Depending on the terrain, where his party members were, and how he was buried, 40 minutes isn't unreasonable.

**SonnyBoy** · 02-25-2008, 01:21 PM

thank god he's ok

**GoEhuge** · 02-25-2008, 01:39 PM

Regardless if it was 40 min or 20 min... this guy was super lucky, and I'm glad he came out of it okay. I think if you get buried, 5 minutes is long enough, let alone 20-40. Jesus, I don't even want to imagine how fucked up that would feel.

**TBski** · 02-25-2008, 03:20 PM

Actually a local avy forecaster and partner who were skiing the lower angled slopes found him and dug him out,his friends were on the other end of the debris pile.
Probably not much was going through his head as he was blue until they lifted his head up and he started breathing.
You guys are missing the real story: The avy forecast specifically said, "it will be very easy to trigger a monster slide".
We now have 3 buried surface hoar layers, that will support plenty of skiing until you hit the trigger or it's time. It has been ripping out anywhere from 5 ft to 20 ft deep. Pits are meaningless because no ones digging 20 ft deep, I dug a pit where the snowpack was only 5 ft deep and it is scary.
This instability will probably remain for the rest of the season.
People are getting away with skiing terrain they shouldn't be near.
Expect more burials in Alaska this year.

youkneebonger · 02-25-2008, 06:17 PM

echoing tbski, all it took was a trip through the pass this weekend to realize that ,sadly, people are just ignoring the info right in front of their faces.

there is so much readily availible data on the chugach avy center web page
http://www.fs.fed.us/r10/chugach/glacier/snow.html
that riding anything over 30 to 32 degree slope angle is like russian roulette right now.

who has ever even seen a 20 ft crown first hand??

it is just not a good time to push it and we alaskans are very lucky we didnt see multiple fatalities this weekend, as it was the first bluebird in quite a while

TBski is right, most of us never would even dig a pit deep enough to locate these bad layers right now, thats why checking the avy forecast is such a good idea, the beta is all there

i am hoping to god we dont lose any bros here the rest of the year but it is also very unlikely...

a week and a half ago when a friend triggerd a sympathetic class 3.5 plus on magnum , while isolating a column the same day the 2 Turnagain Hardcore slednecks were killed across the highway, i knew things were gonna be bad, but the week after that alyeska recieved 10 ft plus and turnagain got 7 ft plus with AVERAGE wind speed for the 7 days was in the mid 40mph range, that it was a time to stay strictly low angle until proven otherwise

lowangle is always better than no angle=not riding

there will be times to push it in the akbc, but it wont be anytime soon, maybe not even the rest of the season...but maybe it will take a near death experience, like the one that nearly killed me 2 yrs ago, for people to feel the same way i do

i just hope no one else dies

ykb

**summit** · 02-25-2008, 06:44 PM

Originally Posted by Hugh Conway

Depending on the terrain, where his party members were, and how he was buried, 40 minutes isn't unreasonable.

^What he said

Deep burials in cement like debris can take a long time to dig through

**TBski** · 02-26-2008, 12:53 AM

He was 4 feet deep and thankfully there were multiple people trading speed digging. People underestimate how anaerobic digging fast is, and you won't get hero adrenaline like in the movies.
Youkneebonger, your friend who triggered that Magnum slide is my friend too, at the top of mellow old Tincan yesterday he said " you know it's bad when the long term BC locals are skiing Tincan on a sunny, beautiful pow Sunday!".
We're Alaskans with a super deep but continental snowpack, with maritime snowpack weight on it. That's just plain wrong, beacause 20 people will ski it and the 21st will rip it out. Ian Wilson was #6 down that slope.

**akfreeride** · 02-26-2008, 02:23 AM

Originally Posted by Snow Dog

"Buried for 40 minutes" is different than "found after 40 minutes". I'm just guessing, but once found and head uncovered there's no real urgency.

You normally would be absolutly correct, just putting in my two cents of local knowlege. the area they were in, especially the corresponding story about the two 'bilers, is pretty damn hazardous. more the bilers side of the pass. regardless, the avy conditions were so high, and still are, that id want to get the fuck out of there as fast as i could before anything else caused another one. with all those people around, helis and dogs too, and the slopes that they were on, main goal is to get the person alive, then ditch the area. the 'bilers, living up to some stereotypes, went back into the ridiculously high avy area to dig out a friend. heroic, absolutly. but getting caught trying to get a dead friend...i dunno.

this isnt directed towards you anyway now, now im just talking about the incident in general. dont actualy know what slope the skier was one, i do know the 'biler one.

and i dunno if its been mentioned before in this thread, but these snowmachiners, rest in peace, went out the DAY AFTER a extreme avalanche warning was sent out by patrolling rangers, specifically including the area. i know they knew what they were doing, but damn, when you get down to it, they obviously didnt, or else theyd be alive. or just chose to ignore judgement. totally avoidable situation on the 'biler case. the skiers i chose to think were much more smart, but who knows.

**AKturnanburn** · 02-26-2008, 02:30 AM

We built a sweet jump and skied some great 300ft runs yesterday in seattle creek. woo hoo

what do you guys think about maybe the fat pockets and slopes that have already slid being a tad safer? I'm thinking if you can still see a crown it must have ripped a lot of that stuff out, how much does it take to clean out a bad buried surface hoar or facet layer? I wasn't finding that faceted layer on a south facing 3K' 40deg lee slope that you could still see a faint crown on.

**DropCliffsNotBombs** · 02-26-2008, 10:03 AM

Originally Posted by Summit

^What he said

Deep burials in cement like debris can take a long time to dig through

How the heck did he breath air (from the snowpack near his face) for 40 minutes if it was super dense "cement like" snow?... Without an Avalung and air space to inhale, I just don't see that happening. Perhaps his upper body ended up in a small air pocket between some hard slab blocks or something. WOW!!!

**hutash** · 02-26-2008, 10:31 AM

You forget the effects chilling has on the body, and the decrease metabolism that occurs. It is almost like a hibernation. Same effect as drowning victims in ice cold lakes. There have been some amazing survival times, because the body basically shuts down.

I have never been buried, but one account of a burial I read was you quickly become hypoxic, and basically start into a dream like state until you pass out, and it can happen very quickly, (within a few minutes). Next thing you know you are pulled out, or walk up in a hospital hours later, that is if you wake up. Glad this guy made, but what a scary time until he passed out.