Rescuing People from Buried Cars

A huge avalanche knocked two cars off the road in one of Colorado’s largest ski areas. Eight people were rescued from the buried vehicles and all were taken to area hospitals. The Colorado Department of Transportation announced that the avalanche was the largest they had ever seen. “It hit between 10 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. and was about thirty meter wide and about five meter deep.” an official said. They had heavy snowfall and even two snowstorms, which caused the snow to pile up. The wind was also very strong, about 48 km per hour. Dave Boone was driving one of the cars, which was buried under the avalanche. “I was driving when we heard a very loud bang. It happened in seconds. Suddenly we were hit by the snow. The snow flipped the car and tilted it. I don’t even remember how many times the car flipped. We started spinning and completely buried in the snow up side down. Only the wheels of the car stuck out from the snow. I dug my way out the car and helped my wife out. Together we walked away.”

Travellers who were behind them saw the avalanche. After waiting for some time to make sure that it was over, they got out of their cars. There were more experienced skiers who knew about avalanches. They instructed the others. There were about thirty people. They all grabbed their shovels and started digging to help the others who were stuck in their cars under the snow. One of the rescuers said, “I didn’t have a shovel but I knew that I had to help. I grabbed my ski from the car and started digging with that. There were other people digging with their skis, ski poles and even with their hands. We were trying to save them as fast as we could. One of the rescuers had his two dogs with him. They were great help. ” An official said that they were lucky that the avalanche didn’t happen a few hours ago. “The lifts open at 8:30 or 9:00 and most skiers and snowboarders try to be at the slopes as early as possible. That’s why the road is at its busiest around 8:00 in the morning. There would be more cars under the snow if the avalanche happened a few hour ago,” he said.