Journal

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Report: Avalanche victim uses the AvaLung and survives a burial at Tessin, Switzerland

The following is a recent report from an avalanche survivor in the Bedretto Valley in Switzerland on January 30, 2010. It is a first person report that has been edited for brevity and clarity/translation.

 

Last Saturday I (and a group of friends) had a very bad experience. We were in Tessin (Italian part of Switzerland) and we decided to make all together a ski-tour. We were 20 people, the snow conditions were really good, fresh powder, but the wind was really high! We didn't calculate this problem.

Bedretto Valley, photo courtesy SummitPost.org

We made a tour around a peak in Bedretto Valley (north of Tessin) and with a friend we were the last two people of this group, a bit far from the others. Everything was good, sunny and fun day. I heard a "whoom" on the way up and normally when I go up I don't have the Avalung outside. Usually, I use it just when I'm skiing. It's not funny when you hear a "whoom", it's not a good sound and I decided to pull my AvaLung mouthpiece out of my backpack. I bought the AvaLung pack last year and I had never used it. You buy but you hope never to use.

We walked 4-5 minutes more and then I saw an avalanche that came in my direction.  I couldn't make nothing, I had skins under my skis and skiing was really impossible. In 5 seconds I was in the avalanche, scared and screamed and I'm not an expert and I didn't know what I could make. At that moment your brain can do nothing. I put my hand in front of my face and in some seconds I was under the snow and I didn't know if the sky was up or down. Total panic!

I managed to get some space in front of me and I could breathe. I thought to myself that my friends were here and they could find me. After 20 minutes nobody. I thought that everyone was under the snow. After this time I decided to use the Avalung system, I used to breathe and I tried to stay quiet and relaxed. I breathe slowly, waiting for someone. I could check my watch but in this situation it's not a good idea. I used the Avalung for 1 hour 10 minutes and then I saw again the light. (I was) really happy to see the rescue people and very happy that I was alive.

My personal opinion, I think that I'm still here because I had the Avalung.
Black Diamond saved my life and the rescue people made the rest. I like so much ski touring but for sure, now I will take an avalanche course. And next year try again. Winter 2010 for me is closed.

I have a quick question for you. When I breathe the Avalung made a strange "sound", like....I don't know...A sound. Is it normal? [Yes the "honking" sound is completely normal when breathing through the AvaLung. - BD crew]

Thanks a lot guys and hats off about your products!

Photos