Survivor recounts horrific experience during avalanches

One of the three survivors of Sunday's avalanches near Fernie, B.C., fought back tears Wednesday as he recounted his "gut-wrenching" decision to leave eight friends who died under the snow.

Four avalanches struck while Jeff Adams and the others were snowmobiling in the Flathead Valley, in the southeast corner of B.C.'s Rocky Mountains.

"It's hard. I replay it in my head all the time, if it was the right decision," Adams said at a news conference in Sparwood, B.C., the home community of the 11 men. 

Adams was buried twice in a wall of snow estimated to be 4½ metres high and travelling down a mountain slope at about 150 km/h.

'They were all good buddies. I'm truly sorry to the families that we couldn't find them.' — Jeff Adams

"I felt the weight of the snow come over me. I thought that was it for me. And somehow I popped to the surface. You can't move. You just simply can't move."

The first time Adams was buried, Danny Bjarnason — whose body was the last to be recovered Tuesday afternoon — dug him out.

Entire group buried

When the second avalanche hit, about 20 to 25 minutes later, the entire group of 11 was buried.

After about five minutes of digging, Adams found himself back on the surface, but remembered choking.

Adams heard yelling and rushed over to dig out his friend, Jeremy Rusnak, despite losing his gloves and tuque.

James Drake was the only other survivor.

After not being able to locate the hands or feet of his friends sticking out of the snow, and because all his rescue equipment was buried, Adams, Rusnak and Drake decided it was unsafe to stay at the site.

"That's when we had to make the gut-wrenching decision to leave our eight friends and start walking off the mountain," Adams said.

As the three men were walking away, two other avalanches hit.

Eventually, the three were spotted by a rescue helicopter.

"They were all good buddies. I'm truly sorry to the families that we couldn't find them," Adams said.

Kurt Kabel, who perished in the second avalanche, had made the emergency call after the first avalanche.

Rescue crews worked round the clock to locate Adams's eight missing friends:

• Kurt Kabel, 28.
• Warren Rothel, 33.
• Kane Rusnak, 30.
• Leonard Stier, 45.
• Michael Stier, 20.
• Thomas Talarico, 32.
• Blayne Wilson, 26.
• Danny Bjarnason, 28.

Leonard Stier was the father of Michael. Jeremy Rusnak, one of the survivors, was a cousin of Kane Rusnak.

Seven bodies were recovered Monday. The final body, Bjarnason's, was found Tuesday afternoon.

Residents of the small mining town of Sparwood have rallied around the survivors and families of the victims since news broke about the incident on Sunday.

Two church services were held Tuesday night in the tight-knit community to mourn the loss of the eight snowmobilers. A candlelight vigil was held a day earlier.

Two trust funds were also set up for families of the victims.

Adams said the tremendous outpouring of support from the community has been helpful and the families of his friends who died have supported his decision to leave the mountain.

All the men were experienced snowmobilers and were travelling at the base of the mountains.