Snowbiker Rescued From Avalanche by Friends

KAMAS, Utah – A Utah man was rescued by friends after being buried in an avalanche Saturday.

Rob Moser said he was snowbiking with a group near Kamas when the snow on a hillside came loose. Moser said the snow started to pile up around his bike as he tried to get away.

“I would kind of describe it as foam,” Moser said. “The bike and I came to a stop, but the snow kept coming from above. When I stopped, it was about to my waist.”

Moser said the snow kept piling on top of him until only his outstretched hand was above the surface. He said the visor on his helmet helped create space for him to breathe.

Karl Love was in the group as well. He said he realized what had happened as soon as he turned around.

“I looked behind me and Rob and all the snow on the hillside was gone. I turned around and headed that way,” Love said. “I kind of jumped into the avalanche debris and that’s when I saw Rob’s hand wiggling,”

Moser said he was able to clear some space around his head. Love said there were initially four people unaccounted for. He said they turned on their beacons and started talking on two-way radios to confirm that Moser was the only person buried. The group dug Moser and his bike out of the snow after about 20 minutes.

Moser and Love said the gravity of the situation hit them soon after.

“I’ll be honest, I welled up on the ride back to our cars after that, just realized man, I’m a lucky dude,” Moser said.

The Utah Avalanche Center reported four avalanche deaths in the last four weeks across Utah. Moser knows he could easily have been the fifth. He said the members of their group carry avalanche tools with them. They now plan to take an avalanche safety course.

“If you don’t have the safety equipment, you need to get it. Forget the money. $800 for an avy bag, that’s nothing,” he said.

Avalanche forecasts are available each day at UtahAvalancheCenter.org.