DENVER (KDVR) – Last weekend, a Denver man found out just how dangerous backcountry snowboarding can be after surviving an avalanche.
Maurice Kervin has been skiing in Colorado’s backcountry for a decade and has completed avalanche training. He surveyed the conditions before heading out but was still no match for the backcountry avalanche danger.
Kervin was recording while on the mountain near Loveland Pass. A slab started to go underneath him and the snow came down from above.
That’s when he deployed the airbag in his backpack.
“I definitely wasn’t in control at all, the avalanche was in control. I never had a doubt in my mind that I was going to get buried. My biggest concern was that I was going to hurt myself in some way and make it difficult getting off the mountain,” said Kervin.
Kervin believes the airbag saved his life. His only injury was a dislocated finger.
The Colorado Avalanche Information Center is once again warning of “considerable” avalanche danger this weekend in Vail and Summit County and along the Front Range due to weak snow pack.