Two college students save dog buried in avalanche near Berthoud Pass
WELD COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- After triggering an avalanche and being buried, a dog is safe and home thanks to two college students.
Bobby White and Josh Trujillo, students at Colorado Schools of Mines, told ABC News they were backcountry skiing in the Berthoud Pass area on Dec. 26 when they witnessed an avalanche roughly a thousand feet away from them.
After reaching the scene, Trujillo and White learned every person was accounted for except for a 2-year-old Chesapeake Bay retriever named Apollo.
According to the preliminary report sent to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, Scott Shepherd was traveling with a group when his dog accidentally veered off-course and stopped above a steep, rocky slope, triggering an avalanche.
"He started moving, and he just looked confused like, 'Why am I sliding down the hill?' And then he was just gone," Shepherd told ABC News.
Despite being told no one was caught in the avalanche, Trujillo and White took out their avalanche beacons and scanned the area in case any unseen skier had been caught. After confirming no person was trapped, they began using their probe poles to search for the dog.
The rescue was recorded on a GoPro White had attached to his helmet. While digging, White is heard saying "needle in a haystack."
After 20 minutes, the pair decided to move from their position, which was right below a threatening ridge.
"I think we need to get out of here," White tells Trujillo in the GoPro video. "That dog is dead. This is why I don't like dogs in avalanche terrain to begin with. We're all like probing underneath the worst avalanche terrain in Berthoud right now."
Just two minutes later, however, Trujillo spots a nose sticking up out of the snow.
"I found him! I found him, I found him, I found him!" Trujillo shouts. "I can see him. He's still alive."
After roughly a minute of digging, White, Trujillo, and a Good Samaritan managed to free Apollo.
According to his owners, the dog only had a slight limp but was back to normal after a few days. Shepherd told ABC News he considers White and Trujillo to be heroes.
"There's no way I would have found him in time to get him out there because I was still way up the slope, making my way around," Shepherd told ABC News. "I think they saved his life, and I can never be grateful enough for that."
Shepherd told ABC News he regrets allowing Apollo to stray and said he takes full responsibility for the incident.
"Everybody knows that [backcountry skiing] is dangerous and everybody takes precautions. But just realizing how one stupid little mistake could have drastic consequences, it kind of drives it home." Shepherd said. "It doesn't take much to steer off the course from safety to disaster."
Trujillo told ABC News he and White plan to continue educating themselves on avalanche safety and plan on avoiding dangerous spots on crowded days. He went on to say, "we were very smart about our day and still got put in danger due to circumstances beyond our control."
