Avalanches are one of Mother Nature’s more dynamic acts. It’s also the last thing you want to see when you’re out enjoying a day of snowmobiling.
Just ask John Swanson he was buried alive in King County, Washington.
Here's the view from his buddy, Rick Jablinske’s helmet cam. You can see Rick trying to warn his friends that an avalanche is headed toward them, but it’s too late and John is buried alive.
Rick and others race to find John and dig him, out before he suffocates. It worked.
John's friends’ quick reactions saved his life.
John Swanson is definitely a survivor. He survived this brief stint as a Popsicle with only a bit of frostbite/ Fifteen years ago he survived a car fire that put him in a coma for weeks.
He feels lucky now though and says, 'The saving grace was knowing exactly where I went in the snow and digging that area.'
He's also lucky his friends have his back.
