Utah snowmobiler triggers near-death avalanche

SUMMIT COUNTY, Utah (KABC) -- There was a terrifying scene on a Utah mountain. A snowmobile rider triggered an avalanche as his friends watched in horror.

Tyson Black was buried under 10 feet of snow and hadn't put on his avalanche beacon. Black's friends and girlfriend rushed up the mountain and started to dig. Twenty three minutes later, one of their shovels hit his helmet.

"And I'm like 'aw you're alive' and I just wrap my hands around his helmet," said Black's friend Branson Butler.

"When they said he was O.K. and he was breathing I just started bawling," said Black's girlfriend Brandy Newbold.

It took another 10 minutes to dig Black completely out of the snow. He said he was able to create a small air pocket around his helmet. He only suffered a banged up knee and was back at work the next day.

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