Survivor recalls avalanche in wake of missing showshoers

BOSTON — A recovery effort to get the bodies of two missing snowshoers from Boston will have to wait until Friday because of poor weather conditions and the high avalanche risk in Canada.

Rescuers have found the pair's car and tracks that go into the avalanche area, which is about two hours north of Calgary.

Three years ago, a Martha Vineyard’s man survived an avalanche on Mt. Washington and the news of the two missing snowshoers is reminding him of how lucky he was.

“I just remember the whole horizon in front of me gave away, it was very disorienting.  Everything in my field of vision was moving,” said Conor Lodge.

Lodge and his friend plummeted nearly 800 feet down Tuckerman Ravine.

"i was surfing the avalanche and I stopped myself on a bush, putting all my weight onto my knee and grabbed the bush as I passed by,” he said.

Incredibly, both survived, with Conor suffering a concussion and his friend a broken arm and back. Even though they were alive and alert, they had to wait seven agonizing hours before they were rescued. The conditions were bad and Conor had to face the reality that though he lived through an avalanche, he might not live through the conditions.

"I was able to think about that, not making it, and I was actually able to make peace with that because I was in a very beautiful place,” he said.

Concord, Massachusetts native Jim Davidson is a world-class climber and is familiar with the risks of exploring a mountain in the winter.

In 1992, he was on Mt. Rainier in Washington when he fell into a hidden crevasse deep inside a glacier. His hiking partner didn’t survive and he had to climb out alone.

“We're always trying to do risk management to not put ourselves in harm's way and try to be out there in that beautiful terrain and do it as safely as you can,” said Davidson.

Next week, Davidson leaves for the top of the world, where he will try to summit Mt. Everest.

Cox Media Group