Woman Pulled From Tahoe Avalanche by Good Samaritan

Avalanche at California ski resort left one dead, one injured
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 12, 2024 1:00 AM CST
Woman Pulled From Tahoe Avalanche by Good Samaritan
Skiers climb to the top of a mountain near Palisades Tahoe, a California ski resort near Lake Tahoe, on Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024, in Calif.   (Mark Sponsler via AP)

A woman buried in the deadly avalanche that hit California's Palisades Tahoe ski resort Wednesday is alive thanks to a stranger who pulled her from the snow. Janet He was skiing just behind her husband when she saw more and more snow coming down the mountain, she tells ABC 10. Then she felt the ground slip away beneath her feet, WNDU reports. She was swept 200 feet down the mountain and found herself unable to get out of the snow that covered her because it was so heavy. Meanwhile, her husband was frantically trying to find her. As she worried the air in her ski mask would run out and she'd be unable to breathe, she heard an unfamiliar voice above her, CBS News reports.

"I heard somebody say 'Don't worry, I got you,' and then a guy came down to me," He says. "It was definitely like the best voice I heard in my life. The guy saved me." The man pulled her out of the snow, and she and her husband were able to walk down the mountain, unhurt. "The risk is inherent. We all know. We just need to respect the mountain, respect the risks that associate with that," He's husband says. After an experience like that, he adds, "You realize time and life, how treasured it is." (More avalanche stories.)

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