An off-duty firefighter rescued a skier who had been buried in an avalanche on a Utah mountain for eight hours.
The 35-year-old man suffered a broken leg in the avalanche in Neffs Canyon on Wednesday that left him buried in snow up to his chest.
Firefighter Tom Elbrecht said he had gone to the area to ski with his dog when he heard the skier shouting out for help.
“He was pinned against a tree. He was buried,” he told KSL.
“Getting him out was difficult because you could tell right away he had no use of his right leg.”
Mr Elbrecht was able to use an emergency radio to call 911 as well as his wife who was able to direct rescuers to the exact area where her husband was located.
“If you’re going to be found when you’re injured, how lucky is that?” said Unified Police Sgt Melody Cutler
“He was buried up to his chest for about 45 minutes. As he was yelling for help, to his luck, there was a Unified firefighter, an EMT, who was out in the area recreating and heard his cries for help and was able to respond and dig him out.”
Rescuers took eight hours to rescue the man, with the firefighter giving the city clothes and building him a shelter.
Bad weather meant that using a helicopter to reach the location was initially unsuccessful and when it could fly the crew was unable to get to a place where they could hoist him up.
Eventually rescuers on skis managed to get the man to an area where snowmobiles with a sled could get him to waiting paramedics.
“I mean the guy’s a hero, it’s incredible, went skiing, it’s his day off, and he spent his whole day up there with this poor guy,” Michael Finger, a squad leader with Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue, told Fox13.
