Upside down in the Snow

While I was writing about Avalanches in a previous article I found it sort of reminded me of an experience that wasn't an avalanche but where I did wind up upside down in the snow and scared.

My oldest daughter has been a really excellent skier since she was about 7. She is very coordinated like me and always loved skiing with me and still does at least once a year even though she is now 24 years old.

On this occasion we were skiing in Mt. Shasta Ski Park on Mt. Shasta when she was about 9 and she decided suddenly (as she was skiing in front of me and I was following her lead) to go off the groomed trails and out into the forest. So, because of the conditions I had to follow her in her tracks, because to leave the tracks she was in might be dangerous for me at that speed. So, when she fell down I had no safe place to go. So, like a good father I didn't run over her but my move threw me into the air where I turned upside down and entered the snow on my skis head first with my skis in the air while helicoptering slightly with my skis on top. This sort of screwed me into the snow so all my daughter could see was my skis sticking out horizontally on top of the snow. I was imprisoned there and scared because I couldn't really move and extricate myself. I asked her to help me by taking off my skis so I could get out. My face was freezing but the snow conditions were such that I didn't suffocate completely even though I couldn't really move to get out until I had my daughter take my skis off. Then I had her dig down and remove my poles because my arms were trapped too. The coldest thing was my face which got very red from being stuck in the snow so long.

But, luckily both my daughter and I tend to be good in emergencies and efficient at staying alive. So, what could have been very serious or even fatal for me if I was alone the two of us handled very well so I didn't die or have serious complications there. So, said she was sorry she fell down and this happened to me. I told her that it was okay as long as I survived it and in the end I wasn't really injured just very cold on my face and neck so it was okay. It's amazing what you can survive with a little help from one of your kids!