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Show car which had been p a r t i a l l y buried. They probed for other cars, but finding none, began c l e a r i n g the snow which had covered two lanes of the road. At approximately 0215 hours on Saturday, 12 March, the highway crew uncovered the car w i t h Mr. F. inside. He was rushed to the hospital and found t o be s u f f e r i n g only from small cuts and exposure. Mr. F. stated that the car came t o an abrupt halt when the avalanche struck. He was glad he had his seat b e l t on. The dome l i g h t came on by i t s e l f , and all he could see outside was snow. He crawled to the rear of the station wagon, and attempted to dig free through the broken rear window with a t i r e iron. He f i n a l l y gave up because he was too exhausted. He soon became very cold and began " shaking l i k e an e p i l e p t i c . " He listened to his radio for about two hours, then turned i t off to save the battery for the dome l i g h t . He f i n a l l y curled up in the back seat and either passed out or f e l l asleep. When he awoke he heard a pounding sound and soon saw a light which looked l i k e " pure g o l d . " He had been buried over eight hours. He stated that there seemed t o be plenty of a i r - - a t least he hadn't noticed any d i f f i c u l t y breathing. COMMENTS In avalanches that cover a highway, extensive probing should be done to be sure there are no additional cars buried. Eyewitness accounts can be incorrect, especially if the witnesses were also caught in the slide. 135 |