Caught In an Avalanche!

Abby Watkins and her husband Rich Marshall were out background skiing near the summit of Rogers pass, in Eastern British Columbia, when they noticed a group of 14 teenagers. They paused to say hello and continued on skiing. After a while, Abby and Rich stopped by a treed area to rest, when they heard a loud THUMP!

Rich immediately jumped up and yelled: “Avalanche! Avalanche! Avalanche!”

But, it was too late, the skiers were already swept away by the avalanche, and in a matter of seconds they disappeared, buried in 4.5 metres of deep snow.

Abby and Rich quickly went into search-and-rescue mode. Running out of time they ran to the nearest group of teenagers and started digging. The couple decided that not all of the teenagers would make it so; they would have a better chance if they dug up the ones already close to the surface.

For the next 45 minutes Rich and Abby were still by themselves digging and waiting for some one to come and help them. While trying not to panic, they follow the rules of avalanche rescue and try to get out as many people as possible! Remembering that there’s no CPR, until you have moved on to the next person. They leave the survivors to dig themselves out!

An hour after the last person was dug out they hear the news, 7 teenagers make it and 7 do not!! One survivor in particular was airlifted to the hospital, because of his broken ankle. Meanwhile the other survivors were transported by helicopter to the cafeteria of the Park Wardens Station.
Those teens are now here, because of two brave people: Amy Watkins and Rich Marshall, if it weren’t for these people those tees would not have been here right now!!!

By: Micha Spengler