An avalanche survivor has revealed his relief at surviving an avalanche on Mt Hutt, just a few days after another holidaymaker was killed in the ski area.



Survival story
Ashley Light, a holidaymaker from Christchurch, was one of two people partially buried in a shallow avalanche yesterday.

Mr Light has revealed his overwhelming relief at escaping from the event seriously unhurt. The avalanche is the latest incident in what has been a disturbing couple of months at Mt Hutt, with three skiing fatalities so far this season.

The 38 year old told the New Zealand Herald:

"I just heard a big boom, which is the sound of the air coming out. And then the whole face just moved and I was in the middle of it. Fortunately there was only two of us caught in the moving parts - everyone else had managed to ski off to the side,"

He continued:"When it started moving, I was standing in it, so I was like surfing it down. 'How do I stay on top of the snow?' - that's what you are thinking. If you go underneath ... you don't come out generally because [the snow] solidifies pretty quickly."


A 'surreal' experience
Light has labelled the loss of control as "quite surreal really", whilst praising the efforts of mountain rescuers.

"It's quite a calm sort of feeling. My thoughts were 'how do I make sure I'm seen?'. So I was holding my poles above my head ... and just followed it down until I came to stop, and luckily I was just buried up to my hips.

"It's just a risk you take in the mountains. I feel lucky, but it's also good to know that the guys up there know what they are doing."

[source: www.nzherald.co.nz ]