(April 15) - Twice in less than a minute, Daniel Zucker thought: "This is where I die."
An avalanche was carrying him and climbing partner Tim Finocchio 800 feet down the steep slope they had just scaled on New Hampshire’s Mount Washington, the Northeast's highest peak at 6,288 feet.
Click through the gallery for Zucker's account of his astonishing trip down the mountain.
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They could have been seriously hurt or even killed. Instead, after their ordeal Saturday, they got up and walked the rest of the way down the mountain.
Walking away from such a disaster is "remarkable, to say the least," said the official incident summary from the Mount Washington Avalanche Center. "Falling this distance with crampons on, ice tools in hand, and going over small cliffs usually concludes much worse."
Zucker summed it up simply: "This is the day we didn't die."
Zucker, 46, spoke on the phone from his home in Danville, Vt., near the Canadian and New Hampshire borders. He and Finocchio, of Holbrook, Mass., are among five friends from various New England states who meet up, in pairs or groups, at least one day every weekend to hike, run and otherwise physically challenge themselves outdoors.
The men had completed a marathon in the New Mexico desert in late March, so they wanted to take it easy on Saturday, Zucker said. For him, strapping crampons on his shoes and wielding a pair of ice axes to scale Mount Washington's Tuckerman Ravine is an easy afternoon. He had done it as many as 15 times before.
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Survival Stories
Jamie Neale, a British teenager who was rescued in Australia after being missing for 12 days, said he was a "total idiot" to go hiking in the Blue Mountains unprepared. Neale, 19, told Australian TV he left for the hike on July 3 with only two bread rolls and a small bottle of water.
Mark Kolbe, Getty Images
Mark Kolbe, Getty Images
Zucker said he was about 20 feet from the top when the snow opened up beneath him. Finocchio was about 10 feet behind.
The snow carried them about 800 feet down, over rocky outcroppings and a small cliff that sent them airborne for "three heartbeats," Zucker told officials.
"This is where you die when you hit," Zucker said he thought.
The force of the avalanche ripped Zucker's ice axes from his hands. It pulled at the men's clothes and gear.
"It's probably the fastest I've ever been not in a vehicle," Zucker said.
The avalanche finally slowed along a tree-lined slope. As he banged against thee trees, Zucker said he thought, "I didn't die going over the cliff, so I guess this is where I die."
But Zucker and Finocchio both came to a stop on some snow near the trees. The men were bleeding but still breathing, and mostly intact.
Finocchio was unconscious for a few moments and he bruised his pelvis. Zucker suffered a broken pinky finger and a wrenched knee. Both men had some nasty cuts.
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The local ski patrol and forest rangers quickly caught up to the pair and escorted them down the mountain. Both Zucker and Finocchio were able walk on their own.
Now, Zucker, a prep school physics teacher, is spending his spring break recuperating at home.
But once he's well enough, Zucker said he wants to tackle the ridge again -- "to ceremoniously finish the climb."
