wasstillstandinginshock.Soonthey
werealltogether,calculatingtherisks
associatedwiththeirowndescents.
Poolewascominginfastbutal-
readyfearedtheworst.He’dbeenon
thesceneofKorthals’deathjustweeks
earlier,hoveringoverheadasrescuers
struggledtolocateherremainsinthe
avalanchethathadburiedher.The
oddsweregrim:only 47 percentof
avalanchevictimssurvive.And 90 per
centofthosewholivedweredugout
withinthefirsttenminutes.Crouch’s
chancesweredwindlingfast.
Thepilotcouldseetherunoutfrom
theavalanche,buttherewasnosign
ofCrouch.AndhecouldhearCam-
posontheradio,askingforeyeson
themountainside.Theboardersdes-
peratelywantedtohelpinthesearch,
butwereafraidofhangfire– residual
snowfallthatoftenbreaksoffinthe
minutesafteraninitialavalanche.
Asheeyedthedebris,Poolelooked
fortracesofanything– a glove,gog-
gles,a twistedbody.It didn’ttakelong
beforehethoughthesawsomething.
Thetipofasnowboard,maybe.He
lockeditslocationinhismind,quick-
lymappinga routedownfromthetop
fortheothersnowboarders.Heradi-
oeddirectionstoCampos,thenspun
thechoppertowardstheobject.
AclockwastickinginsideFitzpat-
rick’shead.Threeminuteshadpassed
sinceCrouchhadfallenoutofsight,
ifnotmore.Itfeltlikeforevertohim
beforeanyoftheboardersdeemedit
safe to start down the mountain. Each
ofthemhopedtopickupapulsed
radiosignalfromCrouch’slocation
transceiver.
Poolespotteda safespottoland
neartherunoutanddroppedthe
helicopter.Hekilledtheengines,
thenjumpedoutofthecockpitwith
hisshovel,runningthroughthe
snowtowardstheobjecthe’dspotted
fromthesky.Brushingitssurface
off,heconfirmedintotheradiothat
he’dlocatedCrouch’sboard.Poole
startedtodig.
Thechopper’sbladeswerestill
spinningasCamposandJackson
joinedPoole– thetwosnowboarders
quicklyworkingatthecompacted
snowwiththeshovelsthey’dcarried
intheirpacks.Ittooka minutejust
toexposeCrouch’slegs,andafew
moretouncoverthetopofhishead.
He’dbeenfoldeduplikea taco,and
hisfacewasbluebythetimethey
gotitexposed.Hewasn’tbreathing.
JacksonputhishandinCrouch’s
mouthandclearedhisairwayofsnow
andbrokenteeth.Besideshishead
andfeet,hisbodywasstillburied.
Bloodwascomingoutofhisears.He
lookedtobedead.
Campos readiedtorevive him.
Then,suddenly,Crouch’seyesopened
andhebegangaspingforbreath.
“Ohgod!”Campossaid,shocked.
“He’salive!He’salive!”
Crouchhadsurvivedforanestimat-
edsevenminutesunderthesnow.He
lookedaroundbutcouldhardly regis-
ter what had happened.57
Wompf!