On a flawless spring day in Alaska’s Chugach Mountains, three young climbers chased the kind of freedom only high places can offer. They believed they understood risk—and that the mountain would give them time to react. They were wrong. What began as a routine ascent up Eagle Peak would unravel in seconds, when the mountain itself came crashing down. An avalanche, a violent fall, a best friend lost, and one survivor left broken, buried, and alone in the silence above the world. But this is not just a story about survival. It’s a story about friendship, guilt, trauma, and the long shadow a single moment can cast over an entire lifetime. About the words said just in time—and the ones that echo forever. This is the story of the avalanche that changed everything and of the long road back—from the edge of the mountain, and from the edge of the mind.

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Sources:

1.   https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/exploration-survival/avalanche-survival-grief-guilt-chugach-alaska/

2.  https://avalanche.org/avalanche-encyclopedia/avalanche/avalanche-type/

3. https://alaskahikesearch.com/hikes/eagle-peak/

4.  https://www.usda.gov/about-usda/news/blog/when-snow-becomes-deadly-how-survive-avalanche

5.                 https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/aug/15/how-we-survive-an-avalanche-injured-me-and-killed-my-friend-here-is-how-i-faced-the-ptsd-addiction-and-guilt

6.https://alaskapublic.org/news/2022-02-17/alaska-avalanche-survivor-and-winning-essayist-spent-years-digging-out-of-ptsd

7. https://www.bbc.com/audio/play/p0bwn302

8. Chat GPT was used to enhance this episode.