PARK CITY, Utah - Max Zilvitis found himself on a roller coaster of snow within seconds of his father's warning shout.

Buried under 3 feet of snow on a slope at The Canyons Resort in Park City, the 11-year-old's mind flashed to a Discovery channel special he had seen on avalanche survival.

"Create air pockets," he told himself. He wiggled his head and hands around to dig space in the cocoon of snow that swallowed him.

A mitten fell off and Max's hand felt cold. Fear set in. Things went dark.

It's the last thing the Park City fifth-grader recalls before waking up at Salt Lake City's Primary Children's Medical Center on Christmas Eve to news that he had barely survived an avalanche. He was buried for 35 minutes before he was rescued.

Five days after being hit by an avalanche on The Canyons' North Face, Max is at home undergoing treatment for a concussion and a mild wrist injury. An occasional dizzy spell and some numbness in his fingers are the only symptoms remaining from an incident doctors at one point feared might claim his life.

It's a recovery his parents, Brian and Samantha Zilvitis, and 9-year-old sister Abby, believe is miraculous.

"It seemed surreal. It really felt like the snow was going to stop. It didn't look like it was going fast," said Brian Zilvitis, who spotted snow sliding while skiing with his son on Sunday.

He screamed a warning to his son, but didn't initially think Max was in extreme danger.

"I felt like, 'It can't get to Max.' And then seconds later, it did."

Stories from his parents about the dozens of volunteers and rescue workers who plucked him unconscious and blue from the snow have helped Max piece together missing hours spent lost in the snow and recovering in the hospital.

Max wasn't aware of the rescue workers who formed two lines to search with ski poles and probes the area where he disappeared. He doesn't remember the helicopter ride to Primary Children's or the critical 24 hours when doctors slowly raised his core body temperature from a dangerously low 82 degrees Fahrenheit.

But he can't forget the blur of white that chased him down the slope.

"It hit me and I felt like I went upside down," Max said. "I really didn't have time to think."

Max and his father were making their final run of the day. Dressed in the Burton snow pants and a jacket he'd saved up to buy in time for ski season, Max got stuck in deep powder and sat down halfway through the double black diamond run.

After the avalanche hit shortly after 11 a.m., Brian, able to free himself after being buried by snow up to his waist, called 911 and frantically shouted to passing skiers to stop and search for Max. Ten to 15 minutes passed and the ski patrol arrived to assist.

Brian's panic escalated as the clock ticked with no sign of Max.

"All I could think about were all the hundreds of conversations we were in the middle of that I might not get to finish," he said, his voice breaking.

A 15-year-old volunteer found Max with a probe about 15 yards from the bottom of the slide after more than a half-hour search. The ski patrol unearthed him from several feet of snow and began CPR.

The family's planned Christmas with relatives from Virginia and Connecticut at their cozy Park City house turned into a waiting game at Primary Children's, where Max was admitted in critical condition.

Doctors purposely kept Max's body temperature low, at around 94 degrees Fahrenheit for 24 hours to minimize potential brain swelling, Samantha Zilvitis said. The boy's liver and intestines were enlarged from oxygen deprivation, she said.

Max stayed on a respirator and was monitored as his body temperature slowly increased. The procedure worked, except for a 90-minute period before Max regained consciousness when his body wasn't warming up as anticipated, his mother said.

"Then we got scared," she said.

Doctors cut off medications and aggressively started to wake Max up, Brian Zilvitis said.

Max woke up and started talking a day later. He was upset that rescue workers had cut off his beloved snow pants and ski jacket, but Samantha Zilvitis quickly assured her son that Santa would likely deliver new gear after hearing about Max's ordeal.

On Wednesday, Max was discharged in good condition.

Max said the avalanche won't deter him from the slopes. He plans to take snow boarding lessons this season, and resume hockey with his team, the Park City Knights, once doctors give him the OK.