Pair survives avalanche on Mount Washington

Daniel Zucker, 46, of Danville, Vt., said he and Tim Finocchio of Holbrook were nearing the top of the Dodge's Drop area at Tuckerman Ravine at about 12:30 p.m. Saturday when the snow gave way. He described a terrifying plunge down the slope in which he wondered if he would survive.

"There's this roaring sound that's constant, and you're surrounded by snow," he said. "You're just being dragged, like being dragged by a car."

Zucker and Finocchio were "incredibly fortunate," US Forest Service rangers said in an incident summary posted on the Internet by the Mount Washington Avalanche Center.

The men - whose injuries included a broken little finger, sprained ankle, bruised pelvis, and various lacerations and abrasions - were taken to a snow ranger cabin where they were more thoroughly assessed and treated, according to the report.

"Ironically, the avalanche which caused their fall likely helped protect them from more significant injuries as they probably rode on the debris cushion to their resting point," the report said. "Falling this distance with crampons on, ice tools in hand, and going over small cliffs usually concludes much worse. That they were able to walk themselves down from an incident such as this is remarkable, to say the least."

Zucker and Finocchio, who were described in the report as "athletic and experienced mountaineers" who were following a reasonable route, were carried by the avalanche over a small cliff (Zucker told snow rangers it felt as if he was airborne for "three heartbeats") and then into a tree-filled slope below, where they came to rest on top of the snow in the trees.

"They managed to pass through the rocky section of the fall unscathed, with the injuries being sustained only after being carried into the trees," the snow rangers reported.

The snow rangers estimated that the men had dropped about 800 feet vertically. Zucker estimated they had traveled a total of 1,200 feet along the slope at speeds close to 40 miles per hour. The whole experience lasted 20 to 30 seconds, he said.

"Whatever's thrown at you, you just do whatever you can to survive it," Finocchio told WBZ-TV. "Nature's in control. She's going to decide what she's going to do."

Zucker said one of the worst parts of the ride was flying over the cliff because he didn't know where he was at that point, and it seemed as if he was airborne for a long time.

"I honestly didn't even know what I was shooting over," he said. "There's a huge feeling of despair that comes over you."

The ride in the snow paled, however, he said, in comparison with the ride into the trees, which was hellish. The men were banged up as they caromed against tree after tree.

"It's like a bunch of people were hired to stop me from [going] 40 miles per hour by beating me with bats as I went by," Zucker said. "You have time to have thoughts. . . . I think the worst thought was, 'This is how it ends. It ends being taken apart, limb by limb.' "

The avalanche was witnessed by people in the courtyard of the caretaker's cabin for the shelters at Hermit Lake, the report said. A snow ranger saw the climbers sliding into the trees and the caretaker, who was climbing nearby, went to check on the men and was joined by other rescuers.

Zucker said he wasn't about to give up nontechnical climbing.

"No, no, no, no. Not all," he said, saying he simply needed to replace two expensive ice axes that he lost in the roiling snow.

Still, he acknowledged he had been in an "elevated state" since the incident. And, he said, "Saturday night, I will freely admit, that every time I closed my eyes, I was back in the snow."