Seven Dartmouth alumni helped rescue college students after they were trapped under a snow-covered northern California mountain by an avalanche on Saturday.
The four students from the University of California at Berkeley were sledding on a small hill at Donner Summit in northern California when they were hit by an avalance and buried under six feet of heavy snow.
After a four-hour struggle, one of the students, Harry Eichelberger, was able to free himself and seek help. He ran to a Dartmouth Outing Club cabin less than a quarter mile from the scene.
Eddie Gilmartin '91, one of the alumni staying at the cabin, said the student "pounded on the window and screamed for help." The group gathered all available tools and ran to the scene.
Using rakes, brooms, and mops as probes, they were able to free the other three victims -- Derek Lerch, Marisa Nelson, and Malcolm Russell Hart -- after nearly two hours. All the victims were uncovered when rescue crews arrived.
The four were rushed to Tahoe Forest Hospital for treatment for hypothermia, but only Hart was considered to be in critical condition.
Gilmartin said Hart emerged having "only shallow, unsteady breathing and his only movements appeared spastic and uncontrolled" in a BlitzMail interview yesterday.
Hart was pronounced dead at 3:21 a.m. Sunday morning. The three surviving victims were released Sunday afternoon.
Northern California DOC president Evan Marquit '87 said it was "a miracle... that these people were able to be rescued." Nearly 80 percent of all avalanche victims die within 30 minutes.
The avalanche occurred after nearly four feet of heavy, wet snow accumulated on the slope where the students were sledding and slid down the steep incline.
Gilmartin said the "short hill... appeared harmless," but he also warned that "we must always be aware of the dangers that heavy snow brings."
Marquit said avalanches are "a tremendous hazard in the western part of the continent. The increased number of back country ventures increases the risk for injury [from snow slides]."
The accident occurred in a remote area near Sugar Bowl Ski Resort in Northern California.
Marquit said the relative remoteness of the accident scene may have slowed the rescue workers, but that the cabin guests acted heroically in rescuing the trapped victims.
He also said the cabin and the hill are only accessible by ski or snowshoe during the winter, causing rescue workers to have to approach the area either on skis or snowmobiles.
This situation reaffirms the reasons that "as a club we are trying to educate our members about back country risks," Marquit said. The victims probably "never paid a moments thought to the risk of avalanche" on the short snowy slope.
The club is currently trying to form an accurate account of the "tragic event," he said. "There are a number of constituencies interested in what happened."
Nevertheless, Marquit said it was "incredibly lucky" that such a high number of the people involved had training in back country lifesaving skills. He also said the heroic efforts of the alumni group clearly saved the lives of the three surviving victims.
