In January 2013, 43-year-old Elisabeth Malloy, from Utah, was skiing with her boyfriend, 30-year-old Adam Morrey, near Salt Lake City, when the two triggered an avalanche.
Ms. Malloy was swept downhill headfirst by the 700-foot avalanche. She later described the experience as similar to being on a waterslide.
Buried 18 inches under the snow, Malloy told Reuters she meditated, breathed slowly, and told herself she wasn’t going to die before losing consciousness.
“It was surreal, as quiet and as embryonic without being in water that I could imagine," said Malloy, a pediatric nurse. "I had this feeling that I was going to be fine."
Mr. Morrey was only buried up to his chest and quickly dug himself out of the snow. He was able to locate his girlfriend using the avalanche rescue beacons they were both wearing.
How does an avalanche beacon work? When a skier heads down the mountain, the transceiver is activated and emits a low-power radio signal at 457kHz. If an avalanche occurs, survivors in the party – in this case Malloy's boyfriend – can switch their avalanche beacons from transmit to receive. The beacon becomes a radio direction finding device and can be used to find the other skier's transmitter.
After he found her, Morrey used an avalanche shovel he was carrying to dig her out, and performed CPR on her. Malloy regained consciousness, but was missing her ski boots and gloves. Another skier helped the two make their way down the mountain and called for help. A rescue helicopter spotted them about 2-1/2 hours later.
Morrey was unharmed; Malloy suffered frostbite on her toes and fingers. Despite the harrowing experience, Malloy, an experienced backcountry skier, told reporters she would return to the mountains.
“It's who I am," she said. "It's not about the powder turns, it's about the mountains. It's about the hiking It's about the experience for me. I enjoy being in the mountains; I love snow. I've always considered myself a mountain goat."
