Minnesotan survives Colorado avalanche

KASSON, Minn., Jan. 3 (UPI) -- A 31-year-old Minnesotan luckily has only a dislocated shoulder and a smashed snowmobile as reminders of the Colorado avalanche that nearly took his life.

Shannon Christiansen of Kasson found himself buried under 3-4 feet of snow on the side of Gravel Mountain in the Arapaho National Forest Monday, the Star Tribune reported Thursday. While other snowmobilers dug him out, Christiansen told the Minneapolis newspaper before he passed out he thought: "This is it. This is where I'm going to die."

Christiansen said the avalanche buried him with his helmet packed with snow and his head angled below his feet.

"You can't can even move a finger," he said told the newspaper from his home in Kasson, Minn. "It's like being encased in concrete."

Christiansen had been trying to see how high he could go up the side of the mountain -- a move called "high-marking" -- when the snow gave way, Grand County, Colo., Sheriff Rodney Johnson told the newspaper.

"It's very steep," Johnson said of the avalanche site. "It's a challenge, a fun thing to do."

The sheriff said Christiansen is fortunate to be alive.

"Somebody has to be right there to rescue you," he said.