Skier Rides Avy Onto CO Hwy, Buried, Survives

**Norseman** · 01-12-2017, 02:38 PM

http://unofficialnetworks.com/2017/0...lorado-highway

**Game Over** · 01-12-2017, 02:40 PM

I was wondering about liability had it taken any cars out

**The SnowShow** · 01-12-2017, 03:33 PM

Wow. Insane pic.

**SeatownSlackey** · 01-12-2017, 04:47 PM

So. Fucking. Lucky.

**2FUNKY** · 01-12-2017, 04:51 PM

No. Fucking. Shit.

**grinch** · 01-12-2017, 04:52 PM

Switch?
Fkn L. Strong work on the extraction

**HansJob** · 01-12-2017, 05:14 PM

Originally Posted by SeatownSlackey

So. Fucking. Lucky.

Unreal.

**PNWbrit** · 01-12-2017, 05:17 PM

Originally Posted by SeatownSlackey

So. Fucking. Lucky.

To have Mike Barney turn up on his commute.

**plugboots** · 01-12-2017, 05:46 PM

Now shopping for an avalung.

**PNWbrit** · 01-12-2017, 05:50 PM

Originally Posted by plugboots

Now shopping for an avalung.

I have too many avalung packs hanging around the house. if you're interested.

Let me figure out which ones I'd part with.

**Tech Tonics** · 01-12-2017, 10:18 PM

A good article from our local paper:

https://www.durangotelegraph.com/new...ibly-go-wrong/

A few things that should be noted. Firstly, coal bank pass is not red mountain pass. The terrain is generally more sheltered, lower angle, lower elevation and closer to Durango than the skiing near Silverton and Red Mountain Pass. Consequently, it's treated more casually than the terrain just a few miles north. Also, the area where they were lost and trying to pop out onto the road is super manky and steep. Lots of small cliff bands and no real inviting lines. They were lost and not familiar with the terrain.

**Alpinord** · 01-12-2017, 10:23 PM

We skied less than a half west of there the day before while the storm was starting. Things were stable then, but the incoming snow was wet, heavier and it was warm. It sounds like these guys started west of us and went east of a normal exit route and crossing the steep slope of the Henry Brown avy path (sometimes used to access an ice climb). Glad he landed where he did, when he did. If they were further from help, that density of snow could have been the cause of a worse outcome.

**plugboots** · 01-12-2017, 10:37 PM

Originally Posted by PNWbrit

I have too many avalung packs hanging around the house. if you're interested.

Let me figure out which ones I'd part with.

Do you have cooties?

**roverdoc** · 01-13-2017, 02:00 AM

Avalung for the win. Amazing timing and very fortunate to have the rescuers he did

**mrkbrnblm** · 01-13-2017, 08:03 AM

Send this one to the guy who asking about whether avalungs are outdated!

**nutmegchoi** · 01-13-2017, 08:23 AM

Wow... everything worked out for that guy.
He's never gonna win a lotto for the rest of his life.

**goldenboy** · 01-13-2017, 08:52 AM

Is it just me, or is his airbag trigger zipped up (in the last photo of the Durango paper article)? It looks like it was probably too short of a slide for the physics of airbags to work, but it might have made locating him easier.

**sfotex** · 01-13-2017, 08:57 AM

BD is having a good week, first that snowboarder in Whistler with a gopro goes for a ride the a JetForce and now an avalung save with photos.

**Shredhead** · 01-13-2017, 09:43 AM

Is Mike a maggot?

**whipski** · 01-13-2017, 10:24 AM

"If God wants you...you can't hide if not you almost can't be stupid enough." My saying from 20+ years of paramedicine. Important qualifier is almost. Since I don't know the details not sure if applies to this skier.

**adrenalated** · 01-13-2017, 10:53 AM

Originally Posted by goldenboy

Is it just me, or is his airbag trigger zipped up (in the last photo of the Durango paper article)? It looks like it was probably too short of a slide for the physics of airbags to work, but it might have made locating him easier.

Looks like the right side is zipped up, but can't see the left side. Being right handed, I run my airbag trigger in the left shoulder strap...

**goldenboy** · 01-13-2017, 11:02 AM

Originally Posted by adrenalated

Looks like the right side is zipped up, but can't see the left side. Being right handed, I run my airbag trigger in the left shoulder strap...

You can kind of see the left strap in the durango paper, but he may have zipped it up by the time that photo was taken.

**adrenalated** · 01-13-2017, 11:11 AM

Originally Posted by goldenboy

You can kind of see the left strap in the durango paper, but he may have zipped it up by the time that photo was taken.

Oh, I missed that shot. You're right, it does look zipped up.

**Alpinord** · 01-13-2017, 11:13 AM

Originally Posted by goldenboy

Is it just me, or is his airbag trigger zipped up (in the last photo of the Durango paper article)? It looks like it was probably too short of a slide for the physics of airbags to work, but it might have made locating him easier.

Per the Telegraph article:

About 20 minutes after he had been buried, Mike excavated the skier’s head and used his bare hands to clear the snow from his airway.
“I asked him if he could breath and he said yes,” he recalled.
Again, luck had intervened. The skier had both an airbag and Avalung. Although he was unable to deploy the bag, he did manage to get the straw from the lung in his mouth – a move that likely prolonged his life long enough to be rescued.
“His partner did a great job,” Mike said of Helmich, who it turns out, is an acquaintance. “He performed an awesome rescue, he was just totally tired when I got there.”