Snowboarders describe daring rescue of 2 buried in California avalanche: "No chance I am going to live"
OLYMPIC VALLEY -- From buried in the snow to a heroic rescue: Minutes after two men were swallowed by the deadly avalanche at Palisades on Wednesday morning they jumped into action to save lives.
Loren Ennis and his best friend Ben Erskine were shocked to see the KT-22 lift open that day but decided to take a few runs before the weather got worse.
"I remember thinking that the winds were pretty high, especially at the ridge line. I knew the avalanche danger was pretty high. We felt like we could just go for it because we thought it was pretty dang safe," Ennis said.
As a storm brewed, the mountain was near whiteout conditions as the pair dropped onto the KT-22 run just after 9 a.m.
"I could hear people screaming from the chairlift. Everybody knew what was happening," Erskine said.
Minutes later, Mother Nature was at their heels.
"It was blowing up so much snow that there was no visibility to tell any context," Erskine said.
The two snowboarders were swept into what would become a deadly avalanche. They moved with the snow as it roared, like riding a wave.
"It was like a locked-in water slide. It was the most surreal, crazy thing ever. You could not move anything in your lower body. It was like a million-pound weighted blanket," Ennis said.
The men finally came to rest, feet from each other, but buried in the snow.
"It went over my head and I remember thinking in that moment, there is absolutely no chance I am going to live," said Ennis.
Both men were able to dig themselves free of the snow, quickly noticing two people just feet away from them could not.
"We realized we were the first responders. We were the most capable of helping right then and it's super time-sensitive," Erskine said.
While Erskine dug out a man who was trapped, Loren trudged through the deep snow to skier Janet He.
"I couldn't pull myself up because the snow was so heavy on top of me," Janet He first told CBS13 of her rescue on Wednesday night following the avalanche.
Loren got to work clearing an airway for Janet He and then digging her free.
"He says, 'No worries, I got you.' I think that's the best thing I ever heard in my life," said Janet He of the man who saved her life.
"What did you feel in that moment?" CBS13 reporter Ashley Sharp asked Ennis.
"I remember feeling incredibly grateful that in something so terrible, that we were in a position where it was easy for us to get two people out. Because it felt like a completely hopeless situation," said Ennis.
The avalanche claimed the life of a 66-year-old Truckee area man, Kenneth Kidd, and injured another person. But for these survivors, the mountain still calls.
Janet He hit the slopes again the next morning as Ennis and Erskine say they are stoked to shred again.
"And to more happy days riding together," said Ennis, hugging his friend.
The KT-22 run was reopened at Palisades Friday morning.
