on a north-facing aspect on Independence Pass, near Aspen, on Saturday.
After a two-hour skin, Sewell, Dayla Robinson and I arrived at our entry point at 11,500 feet.
From a wind scoured ridge, Robinson and I watched Sewell traverse out into the gully.
Before he made his first turn, the gully ripped.
Then, our worst nightmare came true.
It was as if the entire mountain was disintegrating before our eyes.
Sewell was immediately out of sight and we looked up to see debris coming towards us.
I knew Pat was gone.
Seeing the scope of the destruction, in my mind, there was no chance he was alive.
?It was like Frogger, jumping from block to block and trying everything to go right.
But then I was swallowed whole and I was along for the ride.
It was the scariest moment of my life.?
Miraculously, he came to a stop partially buried and was able to dig himself out.
Sewell guesses the slide coming in from the left may be what saved his life.
It was his birthday and he was there.?
I couldn?t believe it.
Within minutes, Pat was hiking up above the flank and emerged from the trees.
He watched us traverse under two pocket slides, with six-foot hanging fractures above us.
We met at treeline and were overcome with emotions.
But we still had more than 1,500 vertical feet of debris to ski down through.
We looked up to see the longest fracture line any of us had ever seen.
In some places it looked as deep as 12 feet.
?After the fact, you second guess your decision making throughout the day,?
?My odds of making it were one in a million.
I?m in mental shock about why I made it out.
I just feel really lucky to be here.
?
