An avalanche caught and nearly fully buried a skier in the East Vail Chutes in Colorado on Sunday, December 22nd, 2013. His brother captured the rescue on his GoPro camera. The East Vail Chutes are located between Vail Pass and Vail ski area.
The skier caught in the avalanche, Edwin, received a knee injury.
“Once I started sliding headfirst down the hill it sunk in that I was in a big avalanche, and this was really happening, and I might die.”
“I was trying to swim as hard as I could to get to the top. I was immensely relieved when I realized that my face was above the surface, and I could breathe.” – Edwin LaMair, the brother that was partially buried
The avalanche danger on the day of the avalanche was “Considerable”. 18″ of new snow had fallen in the Vail area the previous 4 days.
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The avalanche rating was rated at “moderate” the day of the avalanche, but was raised to “considerable” the day after.