‘A mountain of snow coming.’ Brothers save each other in Utah avalanche, videos show
Brothers were snowmobiling in an area of the Uinta Mountains they had played in since they were children when the mountain started to shake and their group knew something was wrong.
Hunter Penrose said on Instagram it was one of the scariest days of his life, but that Saturday started like any other. Penrose and his brother wrote on social media that they are “experienced riders’‘ and know when to stay off the slopes because of avalanche risk.
The group felt something like an earthquake shaking the ground, and when they looked to the mountain, a wave of snow was coming for them in a massive avalanche.
“I looked up and saw a mountain of snow coming towards me,” Hunter wrote on Instagram. “I turned to run and pull my avalanche backpack and right as I did I was swept away down the hill. Immediately I was under the snow, disoriented and with lots of pressure all around.”
Hunter said it felt like snow kept piling on top of him and he couldn’t move anything but his toes at first.
“It was black,” Hunter wrote. “I didn’t know where I was. I didn’t know how big the avalanche was, where Miles was or my other brother or anyone in our group.”
Miles was hit by the snow, but he was only buried up to his lower chest, he said on Facebook. So he was able to dig himself out.
Miles could hear his brother’s sled running and yelling coming from the radio. Then he heard his brother’s screams.
“There is no worse feeling than having your little brother buried,” Miles wrote. “I followed his voice and saw the top of his black helmet and his voice and started digging.”
Buried in snow, Hunter could hear Miles yelling his name, he said. He tried to use all of his energy to push up through the snow, but nothing seemed to help.
He kept trying to move as his brother called for him. First he moved his head, then his fingers. Then he realized his fingers had reached the air and started to scream louder. Within a minute, Miles had uncovered his brother’s face and found him safe, he wrote.
Two others in the group were able to outrun the avalanche, Hunter said. They did not say if anyone was injured in the incident.
“As I think about it I run it through my mind. What could have been different and how we got lucky,” Hunter wrote. “The magnitude of how big that was and that it could have been a lot worse is mind boggling.”
The Utah Avalanche Center said there was a “high danger” on Saturday and that there had been large avalanches overnight.
In Millcreek Canyon, four skiers were killed in another avalanche the same day, according to KSL.
“This is a terrible tragedy and our prayers go out to the victims and families involved.” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said in a tweet. “We are grateful to the first responders and others who engaged in this rescue and recovery effort. With avalanche danger high right now, please exercise extreme caution.”
