SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - It's something Nate Smoot has done hundreds of times before - ride a snowmobile through the back country. But what happened on Monday was a first for him.
"I've never experienced anything like this," said Smoot.
Nate and his friend Tanner, who caught all of this on his helmet cam, trigger a slide near the Idaho-Utah border.
"So I started going down and carved into the hill and felt the whole hill break free," said Smoot.
As the avalanche grabs his sled, Nate jumps off and gets a hold of a small aspen tree and hangs on for dear life.
In the the video below, see the avalanche Nate survived and what his sled looked like once he found it at the bottom of the mountain.
WARNING: There is profanity in the linked clip."If I would've gone down with it I probably wouldn't be here right now," said Smoot.
Avalanche forecaster Craig Gordon says being aware and knowledgeable about avalanche danger played a big role in Nate's survival.
"So Nate's super quick on his feet and has really quick thinking," said Gordon. "These guys did all the right things by only having one person on the slope at a time."
And it was a wild day that Nate is happy to have behind him.
"I'm just happy I was able to go home and give my wife and daughter a hug and live to ride another day," Smoot added.
Avalanche danger will be on the rise here the next few days. So if you have plans on hitting up the back country do yourself a favor before you leave the house and
CLICK HERE to check out the latest conditions.
