Page 23 - 2022 AMA Summer

was the source of the smoking chimney. We declined the kind offer of a cup of tea and, giving sweets to the daughter, we resumed our travel upwards.
At the crest of the hill, we looked down to the road below and the small parking area where our buses were waiting for us. We removed our skis and took off the skins in readiness for a quick ski back to the road-head and the appealing prospect of some lunch. The other two groups were close to us but set off first, and we followed them down. It was steep but not steep enough to be challenging. Our group were all skiing down taking their own routes but staying fairly close together. Richard and Robert were slightly below and to the right, but I had stopped with our guides, David and Alisdair as we looked for the best route to take for the last few turns of our descent. Then I heard the dreaded word “AVALANCHE”.
I turned and looked uphill to see the whole hillside moving down above us. Quick as a flash, David had reached down and taken off his skis – the best thing to do if caught in an avalanche. I had a fleeting go at unclipping my bindings, but they did not release so I tried to ski sideways and out of the moving snow. We were now on a moving carpet of snow and Alisdair was below me and slightly to my right.
In seconds I had been knocked over by the wall of snow and was now falling, cartwheeling downhill. A feeling of dread overcame me as my movement stopped. I could see nothing and the weight of a ton of snow constricted my chest. Breathing was very difficult.
Then to my surprise, the snow tomb moved again, and I felt I was going over a small cliff and falling – then it finally stopped. I could not move a muscle; my hands were outstretched in the swimming position and my sunglasses were stuck in my mouth. The water bladder in my rucksack was emptying its contents down my neck as the valve had come off. I could barely breathe. All was very still and quiet. I made a determined effort to breathe slowly and shallowly, to stay calm and to stay alive. Suffocation is the first killer.
After what seemed like ten minutes, I heard a voice; Richard and Robert were looking for me with their electronic avalanche trackers and soon they were digging above me with their snow shovels. I yelled to encourage them and quickly they dug down to me and cleared an airway to my mouth. But once they found I was alive and breathing they went off to look for Alisdair who was also buried. They soon found him nearby, but
Before Tragedy - The team with Alun Davies (left) and Alaistair Ross (centre)
he was buried deeper. With the help of soldiers from the nearby army post, they dug him out and tried to resuscitate him, but it turned out that he had died instantly of traumatic asphyxiation.
I took ages to dig me out, but I was on my feet as they carried Alasdair down to the road. After giving a statement to a kindly young police officer I was given a lift back to our hotel and the room I had been sharing with Alasdair. His folded silk pyjamas were poignantly laid on his pillow. As I sat on my bed gathering myself together, Sally appeared at the door with a bottle of schnapps. She said, “I think you need some of this!” and asked if she could be of help. I asked her to pack Alisdair's stuff up in a bag and took a long grateful swig of the cold Swiss schnapps.
ARMY MOUNTAINEER / 23