Snowmobiler buried by avalanche, pulled from snow by rescuers

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Denver, CO - A rescue was captured on body camera video after crews pulled a snowmobiler out from several feet of snow.

The man had been trapped there for more than an hour after being buried by an avalanche, with only a small piece of his airbag sticking out as a clue to his whereabouts.

Two snowmobilers had triggered an avalanche just west of Vail Pass Monday.

One of them called 911 and told dispatchers their friend had been buried.

Summit County Deputy Dave Wandel said he and other first responders began to make their way up the hill to locate the missing person.

“So, you know, we were all just expecting the worst, really,” he said. “I mean, it’d been an hour plus that the slide had happened, so we just didn’t expect someone to be found alive.”

Eventually, Wandel said he noticed something orange buried in the snow.

“At first, I thought it might be trash or something broke off from the snowmobile,” he said. “Sure enough, it was an airbag and there was a pack attached to it. And the guy was there … dug down a few more feet and the guy could hear us. He told us he was OK, and we proceeded to dig him out. So, yeah, yeah, pretty amazing."

By that point, Wandel said the man had been under three of four feet of snow for more than an hour.

Body camera video caught the moment they found him.

“He obviously had a full-face snowmobile helmet, which really helped protect his airway, you know, so the snow wasn’t packed into his mouth,” Wandel said. “And then I think the airbag, you know, just poking up out of the surface a little bit, you know, allowed a little more air coming into his face.”

Wandel has been a member of the Summit County Rescue Group for 15 years and has responded to dozens of avalanche rescues and recoveries.

He said this recent rescue of the snowmobiler tops the list for being the most remarkable.

“It’s such a great outcome, you know? Unexpected for sure,” he said.