Seven 9s and 10s

High-res The story of my avatar: I was but a wee infant. My family had gone camping up in the mountain that you can see off in the distant background. Early one morning my father was gathering firewood, cutting down dead trees, etc. One of these dead trees was magnificently tall and it fell with tremendous force. The impact against the cold frozen earth sent shock waves up the mountainside, instigating a devastating avalanche. The snow barrelled down the slope with ever-increasing speed and furiosity as my father picked me up and ran back towards our campsite. Before we knew it, the snow had engulfed us and my entire family was being propelled downward by this unthinkable tragedy. It seemed like an eternity before we finally stopped, but it was probably only about a minute. The avalanche had deposited us into a deep ravine at the base of the mountain. Miraculously, I was not buried and ended up resting atop the flow of ice and snow - as if you were pouring milk into a bowl of Lucky Charms® and all the marshmallow treasures floated to the top because they weighed less than their oaty brethren. I cried out to my family but there was no response, so I did the only thing I could - I crawled. I crawled out from that ravine and slowly traversed miles of frozen forest before finally seeing a ski lodge off in the distance. As night was quickly falling, with my last minuscule strength, I pushed open the door and crawled to the edge of a staircase, screaming. This picture was snapped by someone at the base of the stairs. Startled by the screaming, she was quick enough to grab a nearby camera and capture this picture of me. You can tell I was cold because my tongue is clearly blue and frozen. My family was rescued. They had been trapped beneath the snow but protected in a natural snow-cave that had formed around them as they tumbled down the mountain. To this day, I still bear the emotional scars of that fateful experience. (originally posted 3/12/2009)

The story of my avatar:

I was but a wee infant. My family had gone camping up in the mountain that you can see off in the distant background. Early one morning my father was gathering firewood, cutting down dead trees, etc. One of these dead trees was magnificently tall and it fell with tremendous force. The impact against the cold frozen earth sent shock waves up the mountainside, instigating a devastating avalanche.

The snow barrelled down the slope with ever-increasing speed and furiosity as my father picked me up and ran back towards our campsite. Before we knew it, the snow had engulfed us and my entire family was being propelled downward by this unthinkable tragedy. It seemed like an eternity before we finally stopped, but it was probably only about a minute.

The avalanche had deposited us into a deep ravine at the base of the mountain. Miraculously, I was not buried and ended up resting atop the flow of ice and snow - as if you were pouring milk into a bowl of Lucky Charms® and all the marshmallow treasures floated to the top because they weighed less than their oaty brethren. I cried out to my family but there was no response, so I did the only thing I could - I crawled.

I crawled out from that ravine and slowly traversed miles of frozen forest before finally seeing a ski lodge off in the distance. As night was quickly falling, with my last minuscule strength, I pushed open the door and crawled to the edge of a staircase, screaming. This picture was snapped by someone at the base of the stairs. Startled by the screaming, she was quick enough to grab a nearby camera and capture this picture of me. You can tell I was cold because my tongue is clearly blue and frozen.

My family was rescued. They had been trapped beneath the snow but protected in a natural snow-cave that had formed around them as they tumbled down the mountain. To this day, I still bear the emotional scars of that fateful experience.

(originally posted 3/12/2009)

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Notes

  1. kiri-no-nakame said: Never would I have anticipated the phrase “oaty brethren”, nor to see it used in such an awesome way.
  2. misschasse replied:
  3. sistacrumpet said: You rock, Steve.
  4. jaydensmommie said: But really you’re just hiding that you’re a creepy old man
  5. steelopus posted this