'Perfect storm' of events helped save life of woman buried in weekend avalanche

Morrey said he panicked to try and break free from the snow.

"I got my backpack off, got my beacon out, turned it on and immediately picked up a signal, and again that reaffirmed she was buried somewhere," he said. "Hearing the beacon kind of brought me back to my senses. I knew I had the opportunity to save her, and that I had to everything within my power to try and get to her."

Morrey used his shovel to dislodge his boot from his ski. He then walked to the bottom of the slide with his shovel, probing pole and beacon to look for her. When Morrey finally got to the area where the beacon signal was strongest, he put his pole into the snow and hit Malloy's foot. He began digging through the snow. By this time, Elisabeth had been buried for "several long minutes."

She was face down, with her backpack pushed over her head. And she was turning purple. At one point as Morrey was trying to dig her out, Malloy stopped breathing.

"A bit of panic set in again. As quickly as I could, I worked to free her from the snow. It's a very difficult thing — three-quarters of her body was uncovered. But it's still very difficult once the snow sets up, like cement, even one limb stuck in there can make it impossible to pull somebody out."

Eventually, Morrey was able to completely free Malloy by lifting her out of the snow by her backpack. He began mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. She began breathing again after a minute. Morrey grabbed the three extra coats Malloy had in her backpack to try and keep her warm, using one of the coats to wrap around her foot which by now was only covered with a sock.

After about 15 to 20 minutes, Malloy came to.

The couple's first bit of luck came when Morrey wasn't buried and was able to help. The second part of the "perfect storm" came in the form of Peter Donner who happened to be backcountry skiing in the same area. Donner is also an avalanche expert and watched the slide as it happened, unaware that anyone was caught in it. He was taking notes and decided to get a closer look. Donner said his heart sank when he saw that people had been buried.

If not for Donner, Malloy said she's not sure she would have made it. He helped get the couple to an area where they could be picked up by a medical helicopter. It was a very slow 2 ½- to 3-hour process. But he did it by joking with them and keeping Malloy's spirits high.

Morrey said Malloy did the "Elisabeth shuffle" to get down the mountain, as each man would make "stairs" with their skis and then assist her as she slowly made her way down. By this point, frostbite had started to set in, and Malloy's mind was starting to become confused — a typical symptom of extreme frostbite. At one point, doctors say blood had stopped flowing to her right hand and had almost stopped flowing into her right foot. To keep her focused, Donner would sing to her about getting a hot toddy and she would have to reply to him in order to get one.

Morrey said Malloy was amazingly strong during the ordeal, to the point that when they were finally dropped off by the helicopter to a waiting ambulance, they initially put Malloy in the front passenger seat and Morrey in back, believing he was the victim.

Malloy was taken to the burn unit at the hospital where soft tissue damage of all types are treated, not just burns.

Part of the reason the couple spoke publicly Wednesday was to thank the many people who made their rescue possible. They also wanted to stress to others the importance of being prepared. Morrey has had extensive avalanche training, and both skiers were fully equipped with the proper clothing and gear. If not for having a beacon, shovel and probing pole, Malloy said she probably wouldn't be alive.