A 22-year-old US man who got buried in snow for around 90 minutes following an avalanche has spoken out about his ordeal and shared more details about the incident. According to People, Aidan Croft was out snowmobiling at Hahns Peak in Colorado with his friends and family when the incident took place on February 20. He said he had been there before, but the slope was steep, and he didn't want to try and make it up to the top from where he was located at the time. However, he said when a few guys from his group got stuck when going up a series of hills to get up to the actual peak, he decided to find the easiest path for them to take to still reach the summit.
But when he was riding his snowmobile at an elevation of nearly 10,000 feet, he realised he probably shouldn't climb it on his own. He decided to scrape the bottom of the hill and turn around to return to the group and make sure everyone was okay. However, the 22-year-old said this was when he accidentally triggered an avalanche and found his whole body under about four feet of snow.
"I saw a little bit of daylight when I was buried," Mr Croft told People. "So I was able to push the snow away to clear an opening for me to see and breathe. The first thing I see is the mountain that just slid off, and I'm looking at the six-foot snow shelf that could potentially fall at any minute and make matters 10 times worse, and that would probably kill me," he recalled.
Mr Croft said that after the avalanche, his first priority was to find his ham radio, which took him 10 minutes. Fortunately, he was able to get a signal to call the group. "I'm like, 'Hey guys, I need emergency help right now. I am literally buried in an avalanche. You guys have to bring a shovel,' " Mr Croft remembers. "And then the last thing I said was, 'Just keep it a hundred foot distance from my body because that snow can shift more.' "
Then, after reaching out for help, the 22-year-old said he spent the next 80 minutes buried in the snow doing whatever he could to make himself comfortable, which included taking off his GoPro and his backpack. "I dug out as much as I could to get my legs to move. At that point though, the snow was starting to melt where my body was, and then it created this ice around me, so it wasn't easy to dig," he said.
"I tried to pull myself out, but I was actually stuck," he continued, noting that he couldn't even slide his feet out of his boots because they were tied too tightly.
Also Read | Qatar Airways Defends Crew After Couple Forced To Sit Next To Dead Body On 14-Hour Flight
Then, after around 90 minutes, a trio of snowmobilers who were flagged by Mr Croft's group arrived and started digging. Once the 22-year-old was free, the first thing he did was hug his rescuers, telling them, "'You guys literally saved my life. I owe you so much. Let me know where you're at so I can get you a pack of beer.' "
Luckily, Mr Croft didn't suffer any injuries. However, he emphasised that what happened to him is a reminder to be cautious. "Take nature more seriously. Take the safety more seriously, follow precautions. There's plenty of public information available. There's forecasts for avalanches in Colorado. Pay attention to those kinds of things. And if you're ever in doubt that you need that avalanche gear, you should probably have it," he said.
