A Utah man who was buried by a deadly avalanche breathed his last before being rescued by his brother.
Hunter Hansen was left submerged 2 feet under snow after being hit by a wall of white powder while traveling through the Franklin Basin in the state’s famous Backcountry on Tuesday.
His brother Braeden Hansen, who was just ahead of him, had watched in horror as the avalanche slammed him 150 yards down the steep mountainside.
Hunter then struggled to breathe beneath the weight of the snow drift. But just as he took his “last breath,” Braeden came to his rescue after noticing his glove sticking up from the ground.
He told NBC News that he could see his hand and gloves poking out and waving. When I arrived, he was about 2 feet away, with his head buried in snow. I just cleared the snow from his head, removed his helmet so he could breathe again, and then began digging his body out from there.”
Hunter claimed he was overwhelmed when Braeden discovered him. According to his statement to NBC News, he felt relieved when he began digging. It just washed me down the mountainside. The most violent feeling I’ve ever experienced…Couldn’t breathe or do anything.
“I crashed into a rock or a tree.” He said further: “You hear so many tragic stories of people getting buried in avalanches and not making it out, so I feel very blessed and lucky.”
According to the Utah Avalanche Center, the snowdrift occurred at approximately 8,400 feet elevation. Hunter claimed he took out his phone just before the snow drift formed and recorded some brief footage of it before being hit.
According to NBC News, he remembered seeing a snow ripple and recognizing it as an avalanche. I turned around to see the slide hit Hunter and just watched him get tumbled and buried before losing sight of him.
Braeden stated that he first attempted to contact Hunter via his radio. But there was no response, so he called his father and asked him to send a search party. However, moments later, he discovered his brother and helped him out of the snow.
According to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, avalanches have killed an average of 27 people over the last ten winters. However, the number of people caught or buried in avalanches each year cannot be determined because most non-fatal avalanche incidents are not reported, according to the agency’s website.
