People Who Have Been Lost In The Wilderness And Lived To Tell Their Tales

The Avalanche Was Just The Beginning

Photo Credits: Alaska Mountaineering School

In 1992, Colby Coombs and his friends two friends were climbing Mt. Foraker, a 17,240-foot mountain in Alaska. During their ascent, they were caught in an avalanche and buried inside after being taken 800 feet off of the side of the mountain. Coombs was the only one of his friends to survive. But it wasn’t over yet. Coombs had suffered a concussion, a fractured ankle, two fractured vertebrae in his neck, and a broken shoulder. He then spent the next six days descending the mountain and walking five miles across a glacier until he finally reached his camp. Surprisingly, he still climbs today.