SURVIVING A CLASS 4 AVY~SEASONS OVER BUT IM ALIVE!

[UNIBONGER]

every day we make lots of choices
after a particularly kind chugach storm left about 36"of new pow early february, we saw some of the best riding of the year in the western chugach
high pressure moved in and we got 3 days of decent stability and bluebird conditions also cold temps near zero
on that 3rd day a snow shoer was buried and killed by a slide near a popular anchorage hiking trailhead on the upper hillside
that day was one of the sickest id had all year
the next am some bros called and were headin over...
weather was changin , i warned
winds picked up heavily and were forcasted to gust 80mph plus
we had picked up nearly a foot already overnight
gotta go play somewhere safe
my crew uses machines on a daily basis to tap into the goods
and this day we encountered over 5 ft wind drifts on the trail in RED LIGHT
my 2 bros and i decide to go head for a unexposed low angle gladed area for some visibility
i rally up, but it is seriously nuking up there...blizzard conditions...i literally cant see my hand in front of my face...deep as hell but its just time to call it
i ride back down to the trail, but now see that my 2 friends have crossed a large slide path, of which the trail traverses across at about 1000ft elevation
the peak itself is about 3700ft
one of a slew of large peaks on either side of the creek drainage we are paralelling
i make the choice to turn and follow thier tracks, pinning the throttle as i know im crossing a very suspect slope
just as i am approaching what one may have considered a safe tree island, i saw my friends had turned around and were now heading towards me... i am out of the slide path...IN A NORMAL AVY CYLCE~WHICH THIS WAS NOT!!
I hear the sound of what sounded like a 55 gallon drum of mashed potatoes being splatted against my helmet and body
WHAM!!! I AM NOW COMPLETELY ENGULFED,BROADSIDED BLINDLY BY THE SLIDE AS IT WAS FLANKING OUT ACROSS THE LOWER MOUNTAIN
I remember feeling 2 distinct rolls as the slide just tossed me and my sled and gear (approx 800 lbs total) like we were feather light
amazing how fast the mind can think under these circumstances..i recognized i was in a large slide, and i was praying one of my friends had seen my point of engulfment,while wondering if either or both of my bros were caught too
as fast as it had started,it stopped
IM ALIVE!!!
never have i been SO HAPPY!!!
im upright, about waist deep burial, and am able to quickly free myself!
thank god it was so deep while i was rolling and that it was a loose snow slide so it didnt chunder me too bad
it totally mangled my shoulder~torn rotator cuff and shredded biceps tendon
i literally run up the slope in that deep pow, rejoicing that im not dead~i see my friend and his machine pinned up against some large alders
thank god he is ok too,sled was trashed and so was his mcl
fortunately our third friend was just far enough out of the way~ he was untouched
this was a class 4 , hosing the trail for over 150 yards across and running full length to the valley floor

the slope that hosed us was from upper left to lower right,diagonally,in the foreground
within 24 hours, this huge storm caused the largest natural avy cycle in this area in many years,totally changing the snowscape of the valley with huge class fours and fives on nearly every suspect aspect
heres my sled when we found it the next afternoon

so now im recouperating from getting my shoulder rebuilt,
facing the toughest part of the whole recovery,not being able to rip powder!!
high pressures in , its bluebird , we have nearly 12 hours of daylight now...
and this is the terrain im missing out on riding

BUT IM GLAD IM ALIVE
ILL GET ANOTHER CHANCE TO RIDE THE CHUGACH SOON

JUST REMEMBER ~ EVERY THING YOU DO, YOU HAVE A CHOICE
DONT LET YOUR DESIRE TO RIP POWDER AFFECT YOUR DECISION MAKING
MAKE GOOD CHOICES IN THE BACKCOUNTRY
DONT LET YOUR GUARD DOWN OR BE COMPLACENT
SOME TIMES WE JUST NEED A LITTLE REMINDER THAT WE ARE ONLY HUMAN
I WILL RIDE AGAIN

[KillingCokes]

WOW Glad to here you're OK.

GET BETTER SOON

[Squatch]

you sure you weren't riding with ullr907?

[UNIBONGER]

WOW Glad to here you're OK.

GET BETTER SOON

THANKS!!

[UNIBONGER]

you sure you weren't riding with ullr907?

NEVER HEARD OF EM!

[Core Shot]

Holy shit. Scary motherfuckers, aren't they?
Glad you survived.

One way to see it is that the avalanche that almost killed you might just have saved your life (later on).
Your judgment and awareness have been radically altered for the better.
Now you will be the one to step up and say "no fucking way" when things don't look or feel right.

PS - nice screen name

[iceman]

Way to not die.

Get healthy and get back after it, but this better be the last avy I hear about you getting in or I'ma come up there and kick your ass, okay?

The slide was in the foreground, with the scattered trees? Wow that looks like it's less than 30 degrees from the pic. Could you maybe draw a line showing the path and mark where you were?

[truth]

Damn. Thanks for sharing the story.

[soul_skier]

unfortunate situation, good to hear that everyone was okay

[shera]

Amazing story - thanks for telling it here. I just read Snowstruck by Jill Fredston. You (and everyone else) should too, I think.

You got some purty mountains.

[Bodhi]

Great you are still one of the living and not another stat. Thanks for sharing the story.

peace,
D.

[freshies]

whoa, scary stuff. glad you and your friends are OK - heal up fast and stay safe!

[The Dad]

Great luck. Heal well.

[Karl Stall]

So, ULLR907 reregistered under a new alias?

Either way, glad you didn't die.

[BakerBoy]

So, ULLR907 reregistered under a new alias?

Either way, glad you didn't die.

Yeah, he's being "anonymous" right now.

[DerJaeger]

I'm glad you guys got out relatively unscathed, but guys -- going out in those conditions? WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!

[bad_roo]

every day we make lots of choices

I don't.

[Xover]

thanks for sharing
glad you're alive and will be ok

[Mofro261]

Glad you survived.

After reading this tr I now have Gloria Gaynor stuck in my head...

[UNIBONGER]

thanks for the stoke every one!!
im reading snowstruck it is excellent!
i agree that getting spanked was much better than what wouldve almost certainly happened if we had continued riding....THE BIG GUY was definately trying to get our attention
remember we were going to go ski the trees on the left side of the slide photo but a small lack of communication resulted in my friends crossing that slide path first....something i was not planning to do..however, if i had been 2 seconds faster i would have been safe...if i was 2 seconds slower i would be in much worse shape than i am now...timing is everything
i am convinced the BIG GUY was really looking out for me that day, but i will never let my desire to get freshies hinder my usually solid judgement again!!
heres a few more pics from that avalanche cycle





having many sucsessful days without avalanches lulls our brains into complacency sometimes
we weigh the risks against what we know from past experiences,
and sometimes push it too far
please be safe in the backcountry and rip a line somewhere for THE UNIBONGER!

[goldenboy]

Thanks for sharing, glad you're ok, and yes, that does look like a HUGE slide.

[ak_powder_monkey]

where is that????

[UNIBONGER]

its called 'the chugach"

[subtle plague]

its called 'the chugach"

i always thought they have snow there.....

[ak_powder_monkey]

its called 'the chugach"

so somewhere between cordava and knik that make it perfectly clear. Glad your alright but you don't have to be an ass. And the pictures are prety obvious that you were in hatcher pass (or poaching on your sleds) which is not the chugach but in fact the talkeetnas