THE SCARY SNOW ADVENTURE-FEB 23

The day started off great with Sarah playing 2 piano pieces at "Festival" perfectly (at least it sounded that way) then brunch at the "Oasis Cafe." 

It was snowing hard and we were thinking of aborting our back country ski with Ken Rasmussen for this afternoon. He needed to pick up his daughter Allie at Snowbird anyway and I had spent $40 renting a split board, so we went despite the weather conditions. Once parked at Grizzly Gulch up Little Cottonwood canyon, Ken discovered he'd forgotten his pack with his gloves, avalanche gear, poles, food etc. We decided he could use my poles going down and he found a pair of small knit gloves in his car. We started up the mountain around 2:00. We stopped about 1/2 way deciding it was far enough and found some shelter from the blowing snow in some trees. We took our "skins" off our skis and converted mine into a snowboard. 

Ready to go down

There was not much slope so Ken pulled me with his poles to get started. Jon stopped to ask if we wanted to take the cat track or ski down through a gulch. He said it would drop into a meadow but would only be about 30 yards to ski out of it. I don't really care for skinny cat tracks so we opted for the gulch. I started down behind Jon. The powder was deeper than I'd ever been in--close to my waist. It was difficult to turn. I stopped not far down and noticed the bottom was flat. I yelled to Ken, "It's not worth it." I thought if I hit the flat with the snow this deep, I would never make it out. I told him to tell Jon I was going to go back up to the cat track. I figured it would be the surest and safest way down for me and I would just meet the guys at the car. The thought never occurred to me that they would wait for me. I began clawing my way back up the mountain but it was almost impossible so I found a little shelter by a tree, took my board apart and tried putting the skins back on. The binding pins were icy and difficult to change and the skins were wet and would not stick. The skis would be useless to hike out. I took a mental inventory of myself and decided I was ok, warm enough but felt an urgency to get off the mountain. I worked as fast as I could on the board but noticed my glove liners were stiff and frozen. I stood there for a moment trying to decide what to do. It would be easier to board down but then I would be in the meadow and knew I was in for a struggle to get out and would not know where to go. If I found the catwalk I figured my chances were better for not getting lost and a snowmobile finding me. I had imagined it would turn to the left and take me all the way down. I used the skis to help climb up to the cat walk which looked very different as it was blown over with snow. Once on top I reassembled my board but noticed the front binding was broken. I figured I would just have to fasten the back and make it work. Suddenly I heard a voice yell my name. It was Jon. At first I was scared and braced myself for an angry lecture but instead he said, "I've never been so happy to see anybody in my whole life." Boy was I relieved.  I explained my plan and how I didn't think he would be in the meadow waiting. He kept saying, "I would never just leave you." I loved him more than ever in that moment. It turned out to be a good thing he had found me because the cat walk soon disappeared and I followed Jon through the meadow where Ken had been waiting. I had to take my board off 2-3 more times for flat places. The most difficult challenge was my eyesight. My goggles had become encased in ice and useless. My eyelashes were crusted with balls of ice and it felt like shards of glass hitting my face. I was disoriented and dizzy, not sure I could tell the ground from the sky. I thought about our blind friend Paul who skis by following his wife Phyllis. I yelled to Jon that I couldn't see. Ken gave me his sunglasses but they immediately fogged over and I put them in my pocket. I squinted just enough to see Jon's red coat ahead of me. We did get one short section of snowboarding bliss before dropping down to the road. I was so happy knowing we would survive. Ken was so cold he was shaking violently and couldn't drive. I felt good except when I looked down at my fingers I realized I couldn't feel any of my fingertips except my left thumb and they were dark and swollen and I felt a lot of pain. Luckily Jon had some ibuprofen which helped a great deal. Our next challenge was finding Allie and her two friends who were still waiting for a ride home. We got to the car at 4:45 and then sat in a stream of cars moving only 1/2 block in 2 hours. The main road through the canyon was closed due to avalanche danger and they were emptying the Alta & Snowbird parking lots before letting us out. It was a great relief to finally make it the girls who had been waiting out in the snow for hours. We made it home at 9:30 p.m. My fingers weren't looking any better so Jon called his brother- in- law Lamar who is a doctor in California who advised us to go to the E.R. Had it cost us any money, I probably wouldn't have gone but the decision was easier knowing we have met our out of pocket limit. I was told I had frostbite and was referred to the U of U Burn center. They wrapped my hands in gauze mittens and sent us home. We got home at 12:10 a.m. and found Amanda out shoveling the driveway as her car was stuck. I knew Jon was an amazing father and mother but he is a great nurse too changing my bandages, washing my hair for me, and fixing great meals. His new nickname for me is "my little monkey paw." (not sure how I feel about that) 

Jon's handiwork

We hashed over and over what happened and learned some valuable lessons. 
 1. Don't go in bad weather
 2. Get an early start. 
 3. Be prepared for anything 
 4. Stay together 
 5. communicate!
Anxious to get home and back to work I had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Plowman at the wound clinic in Logan. He said I have some deep tissue damage but will likely get the feeling back in 3-6 months. He said if I was a teenager he would bandage them but since I'm "responsible" he wouldn't. I was so happy as I couldn't do anything with the bandages on, but I couldn't help snickering that he was so deceived. Before I left his office I asked him if I could play the piano, He said I could. I said, "Oh good, I've always wanted to play the piano." He said, "you mean you don't play?" Nope.  Jonny-----You Saved My Life!!!