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Snowmobiler Digs Friend Out of Wyoming Avalanche in Terrifying Video

If there’s anything people in northern states are familiar with, it’s how dangerous snow can be. On that note, a Wyoming snowmobiler faced a nightmare scenario with it after his friend got buried in an avalanche. Leaping into action, he managed to dig him out, all while getting it on camera.

The horrifying video shows snowmobiler John Sievers getting buried by snow on January 2. Wasting no time, his friend Jason Rubio sprang into action on his own snowmobile after Sievers. Finding him almost completely submerged, Rubio began digging him out to prevent him from suffocating. Daily Mail acquired the video below where you can see the entire incident play out.

Additionally, Sievers posted about the incident on his Facebook account, stating his avalanche bag failed to deploy. An avalanche bag inflates when you pull the cord and drags its user to the surface, should snow bury them. “The bag failed to deploy because I didn’t attach the trigger cable correctly,” he wrote.

Continuing, he thanks everyone for their support and checking in on him. “Please make sure you take the time to install your canisters completely and correctly Learn from my simple mistake that almost cost me my life. Also I want to reach out and thank everyone for checking up on me and making sure I’m okay it means alot! I hope that my experience is able to reach people like me that think it can’t happen to them and show them that it can and will! Shout out to the guys and girl at Leisure Sports that took the time to help me address the problem with my bag! #Thankful.”

I’d also like to stress if you’re doing something like this, please do not do it alone if you can help it.

Minnesota Snowmobilers Die During a Yellowstone National Park Avalanche

Though John Sievers, fortunately, survived his near-fatal encounter, a Yellowstone National Park Avalanche claimed two victims. While snowmobiling there, the avalanche killed two men from Minnesota.

The Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center reports the duo was riding their snowmobiles on Scotch Bonnet Mountain. After getting trapped in snow, two other riders from their group came to help. Unfortunately, this triggered an avalanche that ran about 500 feet deep down the mountain. Luckily, the two helpers managed to escape the enormous amount of snow. They enlisted help from other people and after digging for an hour with shovels and probes, found the two who were originally trapped. Unfortunately, they did not survive.

GNFAC Director Doug Chabot commented on the tragedy to Missoulian. “It’s a popular spot to go snowmobiling and skiing, but it’s serious avalanche terrain, like a lot of the mountains around Cooke City.” Further, he warns that particular slop presents “considerable” risks and to be careful.