Avalanche takes man on 1,000-foot tumble
Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 8:03 am
This was in Colorado.
A friend that I've been planning to hike with this summer got caught in an avalanche this weekend. He's pretty beat up right now and looks awful, but he lived thru it and will be fine.
I had sent a few e-mails asking for date preferences and didn't hear back. Finally got an e-mail back saying "Here's what happened to me this weekend" with a link to the article
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_3820297
CLEAR CREEK COUNTY
Avalanche takes man on 1,000-foot tumble
A 54-year-old California man was lucky to escape with his life after riding an avalanche about 1,000 feet down Torreys Peak in Clear Creek County on Saturday afternoon.
Brian Smith of Santa Monica, Calif., was climbing with his stepson when the 45-foot-wide snowface broke free beneath him at 3:40 p.m.
He suffered several broken bones and was removed from the mountain by a Flight for Life helicopter to St. Anthony hospital in Denver, but his injuries were not life-threatening, said Lt. Rick Albers of the Clear Creek County Sheriff's Department.
"He's very lucky," Albers said. "It's known by locals for being a dangerous area. The area is called Dead Dog Couloir."
Three climbers from Wyoming witnessed the fall and raced to help Smith.
Smith cartwheeled down the slope and made several hard landings, said Greg Williams, 36, of Cheyenne.
"It was pretty graphic, it really was," he told 9News. "We thought he was dead."
A friend that I've been planning to hike with this summer got caught in an avalanche this weekend. He's pretty beat up right now and looks awful, but he lived thru it and will be fine.
I had sent a few e-mails asking for date preferences and didn't hear back. Finally got an e-mail back saying "Here's what happened to me this weekend" with a link to the article
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_3820297
CLEAR CREEK COUNTY
Avalanche takes man on 1,000-foot tumble
A 54-year-old California man was lucky to escape with his life after riding an avalanche about 1,000 feet down Torreys Peak in Clear Creek County on Saturday afternoon.
Brian Smith of Santa Monica, Calif., was climbing with his stepson when the 45-foot-wide snowface broke free beneath him at 3:40 p.m.
He suffered several broken bones and was removed from the mountain by a Flight for Life helicopter to St. Anthony hospital in Denver, but his injuries were not life-threatening, said Lt. Rick Albers of the Clear Creek County Sheriff's Department.
"He's very lucky," Albers said. "It's known by locals for being a dangerous area. The area is called Dead Dog Couloir."
Three climbers from Wyoming witnessed the fall and raced to help Smith.
Smith cartwheeled down the slope and made several hard landings, said Greg Williams, 36, of Cheyenne.
"It was pretty graphic, it really was," he told 9News. "We thought he was dead."