'It's Like Hitting A Brick Wall': Man Recounts Snowmobiling Into Avalanche
ST. MICHAEL, Minn. (WCCO) -- For Wade Anderson, the back country in Wyoming is a winter wonderland.
"I like all the deep snow, I like the scenery, it's beautiful out there," he said.
His wife Robin sees it differently.
"Every time he goes snowmobiling, I worry about it," she said.
He gave her good reason last week when he took a trip out west with some friends. Anderson said he was snowmobiling near the base of some mountains close to the town of Moran.
He said he started to riding up a hillside when he noticed what looked like blowing snow on a windy day. It turns out he was driving head on into an avalanche.
"It's like hitting a brick wall. I hit it and dead stopped, flew off my sled and started sliding and rolling," he said.
Anderson estimates he tumbled down the hill for 15 to 20 seconds before coming to a stop. He said he was buried in at least 2 feet of snow and could barely move.
"It just forms like concrete," he said.
Luckily Anderson was wearing his avalanche bag. Strapped on his body like a back pack, he said he had just enough room to pull the handle to deploy the live saving tool.
"I heard the air bag inflate and then it was just wait until somebody came and saw me," he said.
The air bag that deployed not only kept the snow from caving in, Anderson said it gave him more space to breathe. The bag, which is bright orange, also partially stuck out from the snow.
"It felt like a long time because I was laying there face down in the snow wondering if I would be found," he said.
After about three minutes, Anderson said the guide working with their group spotted the air bag and started to dig him out. He knew then he was safe.
"I knew I'd get to go home and see my family again. That was what it was really all about," he said.
Even though Anderson is an avid snowmobiler, he only recently bought the avalanche bag. This was his first trip wearing it.
"Now I'm thankful every day that he made that purchase this year because it saved his life," Robin said.
She can't even count how many times she's heard him tell the story since he returned home.
"Every time I hear it I get another piece of it and just realize how close I was to losing him," she said.
Standing in his driveway, Anderson demonstrated for us how the bag works. It comes with a can of compressed air that needs to be refilled after each use. His demo was the second time he had deployed it and the first time his wife saw how it works.
"It's just crazy to look at something like that and know that, that's what saved his life," she said. "Something as simple as that and that was his savior along with the people that were with him."
The next time he uses it might be a lot longer down the line.
"I was told I couldn't go [to Wyoming] next year," Anderson said.
"He was told he couldn't go more than just next year," Robin quickly added.
His wife isn't the only one doing all the worrying now, too.
"I already told him he's never going again," his 10-year-old daughter Brianna said.
Anderson says he'll never tell someone they have to buy an avalanche bag, instead he said he'll just tell them the story of how owning one is the reason he's alive.
