After seeing a cloud of snowfall erupt—a warning of an avalanche—while skiing in Berthoud Pass, Colorado college students Bobby White and Josh Trujillo decided to seek help.
Together, they skied over to the snow debris, where they met other people.
Despite the fact that everyone was found safe and sound, they were informed that a dog had been taken and buried in the debris field.
It was the dog’s owner, Scott Shepherd, who chased it away atop a steep, rocky slope, triggering the avalanche. The dog was carried over the cliff and through many trees before disappearing into the snow. The dog was a 2-year-old Chesapeake Bay retriever named Apollo.
When he began moving, he looked befuddled, as though asking himself, ‘Why am I falling down the hill?’
“And then he was just gone,” Scott said in an interview with ABC.
As Scott looked around for his canine companion, he noticed Josh and Bobby, who he stopped to ask where the dog had disappeared to.
The two students got their avalanche warnings out of their backpacks and started searching for the dog.
They probed around in the snow with 8-foot-long probing rods in the hope of finding the poor animal.
It took around 20 minutes to complete the search.
According to the Utah Avalanche Center, 93 percent of human avalanche victims may be rescued alive if they are discovered within 15 minutes of being buried.
“However, after 45 minutes, the numbers drop catastrophically,” according to this website, with as little as 20-30 percent remaining after 45 minutes.
“That dog is no longer alive. This is one of the reasons why I don’t like dogs in avalanche terrain in the first place. “It seems as though we’re all digging underneath the deadliest avalanche terrain in Berthoud at the moment,” said the group.
However, just two minutes later, they saw a snout poking its way out of the snow!
“We’re on our way, buddy,” Bobby tells the canine companion.
After some digging, the dog manages to crawl out of the snow and bounds about with just a tiny limp as evidence of his wounds.
“How are you doing, buddy?” “Are you a bit scared?” As the dog races towards Scott, Bobby can be heard yelling something at it.
As Scott said to ABC News, “there’s no way I would have found him in time to get him out there as I was still up the hill and making my way around.”
I believe they will surely save his life, and I will never be able to express my gratitude enough.
Apollo the dog is back to his normal self after a period of rest and a trip to the veterinarian. He shows no indications of damage.
According to Scott, it resulted in many tears and embraces, as well as plenty of devotion over the following couple of days.
Scott said he accepted full responsibility for the situation and expressed regret for deviating from the planned route and placing his dog at risk near avalanche-prone hills.
“I feel like I got away with something that has massive consequences,” Scott added.
“Like, he could’ve died. I hoped he was gravely hurt, but nothing occurred. It still astounds me. ”
Everyone realizes it is risky and takes precautions. That one dumb little error might have devastating effects, really brings it home, “he concluded.
It doesn’t take much to go from safe to disastrous.
Josh told ABC News that he and Bobby will continue to learn about avalanche safety.
In spite of their best efforts, they found themselves in danger because of events that were out of their control.
Watch the video: