Picture this. You are skiing the back country. There have been heavy snows over the past few days, and as can happen even in the best of circumstances, the snow under you gives way, and a huge slab slides on a rush down the mountain, taking out trees and anything else in its path. You are buried. Fortunately, you were smart enough to carry an avalance beacon, and unbeknownst to you, a skiing partner who was not carried away is able to call for help. You can't move, it's difficult to breathe, and you can feel the cold growing, gathering you into its coffin-like embrace. While it's difficult to move, you are able to get the one downward pointing hand down to your boot to release it from its ski. Minutes count. Your fear is palpable, but even your panic doesn't give you a way out. All at once, you feel a prod, a stick down through the snow finds you. You hear voices and the pawing of a dog. Soon, you are dug out, crying, knowing how close you came to your end. Chances are very good that Dan and Patti Burnett and their dog, Sandy, are among the rescuers. You can't express enough gratitude, but anything you can express will be well deserved. Dan and Patti are friends of mine. Dan is a fellow Realtor who is successful in his own right. They have two daughters and are truly contributors to this community. But beyond real estate, they both have been volunteers for years with the Summit County Rescue Group, the organization that regularly saves back country skiers, hikers and others who have either gone in without preparation, got lost, or have fallen and otherwise been injured. They do this as if it were a day job. It's in their blood. In the winter, snow avalanches are all too common, and they and their dog, Sandy, can find themselves out at an avalanche site or belaying from a cliff down to a ledge where yet another person is trapped. It can happen at any time of the day or night. Patti often looked for a book on training avalanche dogs, and when she could not find one, she wrote it. "Avalanche! Hasty Search" is now the bible on this unique type of dog training. It's a popular seller on Amazon.com. Dan and Patti Burnett - they are the kind of people who make you want to live in Summit County. Read more here. |
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