The shocking moment two snowmobilers were left submerged after a 50mph avalanche ripped through the mountain in Wyoming has been captured in shocking first-person video, with one rescued minutes before he would have suffocated.
Mason Zak and Jake Dahl were buried under five feet of snow during a day trip with friends to Star Valley last Friday.
Zak sees that Dahl has fallen from his vehicle and repeatedly shouts ‘Avi!’ to his friend before the snow appears, sliding down the dusty mountainside, in images taken with his camera.
He can be heard saying “no” a couple of times under his breath as the snow approaches and he attempts to escape in the vehicle, seconds before being plunged into darkness.
“I saw Jake had fallen and I was going to go up there to see if he needed help and when I looked up I could see the hills breaking above him and I started yelling ‘avalanche’ as many times as I could,” Zak said. . ‘It all happened so fast.’
The avalanche moves towards Mason Zak. Zak and Jake Dahl were buried under five feet of snow during a day trip with friends to Star Valley.
Zak can be heard saying “No” a couple of times as the snow approaches and he attempts to escape in the vehicle, seconds before being plunged into darkness.
Around four in the afternoon, the friends had decided to travel one more stretch with their snowmobiles when the shocking avalanche occurred.
‘I thought I was in the safe area at the bottom. I watched Jake get buried and I kept an eye on him to know where he was buried if he had to go save him,” Zak said.
“As I was looking at it, I didn’t even realize it was coming so fast and it just hit me in the back, threw me forward off my snowmobile and actually dragged me around a group of trees.”
Seconds later, Zak was buried under a pile of snow, leaving only the sound of his frantic breathing in the darkened video.
Mason, a 23-year-old businessman from Minnesota, was buried for seven minutes before being rescued by a group of bystanders who used equipment to help locate victims trapped in an avalanche.
He said that he “lost hope immediately” because he couldn’t move under the snow and thought that “no one was going to find us.”
Mason says, fortunately, a rescue party got to him just in time.
He believes that if they had arrived five minutes later, he would have succumbed to carbon dioxide poisoning.
Meanwhile, Jake, a 25-year-old businessman from Wyoming, was fortunately only buried for about 30 seconds and, despite fearing he was “done,” was able to get out.
Mason said: “It was a normal day; we were having one of the best days yet in the snow.” At the end of the day we decided to do one more hill. I had the idea to try to make something a little more pronounced.
‘We went to this other hill and didn’t think much about it. I think Jake went up first, I went up second, and our other friend was third.
‘I ended up face down, with my palms behind my back. I could move a couple of fingers, that was all. It was two to three feet underground. I was completely buried, nothing of me was showing. It could have hit me at about 50 miles an hour.
Mason Zak next to his snowmobile after the incident.
Mason These memories flashed before his eyes as he accepted the reality of dying under the snow.
He said: ‘We think I was underground for about five to seven minutes. I thought Jake and our other friend were buried, so I immediately lost hope.
‘I was thinking “no one knows where we are” and “no one is going to find us.” I tried to move a little but it didn’t work. At that moment, silence took over. It was so dark and quiet.
‘I don’t think I fainted, but I went into a kind of dream. Central memories were passing through my head. I imagined my mother, my father and my brother.’
He added: “I probably realistically had about five minutes left.” I think I had a case of carbon dioxide poisoning when I came out. I had a pretty bad headache. I was just amazed that they were saving me.
‘I went out and hugged the children and thanked them for saving me. I don’t know if they would have found me without the beacons. I feel very lucky to be alive… I now have a whole new respect for the mountain.’
Fellow adrenaline junkie Jake also said the experience has given him newfound gratitude after nearly losing his life.
Recalling what happened to him, the father of two said: “It just swallowed me up.” He knocked me down about 75 meters and I started freaking out. Luckily, he stopped and my left arm was above the snow enough to get my face out.
‘My face was probably about a foot deep. I could barely breathe. I was screaming when I pulled my face out. I was submerged for about 30 seconds. I thought it was over.
“I was thinking about my girlfriend and my kids. I was afraid of a second wave coming. This was kind of an eye-opener about what can happen out there. It scared us all and gave us all a wake-up call. We’re lucky be alive
The couple has been traveling together in Star Valley for the past five years.