JACKSON - Jason Blair is a living reminder that the decision to strap on an avalanche beacon when heading into the backcountry can make the difference between life and death.

The Jackson resident was located and dug out from beneath 5 feet of snow after being buried by an avalanche while snowmobiling Dec. 2 in the Cliff Creek area near Bondurant. His quick-thinking partners were able to dig him out in about five minutes.

"I was face down, and it was an unbearable weight," recalled Blair, 33. "It was like taking a loader bucket full of snow and dumping it all on you at once. It was a huge relief when they began shoveling."

Blair was part of a group of eight riders who had been driving their sleds up and around a slope for more than 45 minutes when one of the riders became stuck halfway up. Blair rode up underneath his companion and parked his snowmobile near a grove of trees on the right hand side of the slope.

He walked to the other man's sled and helped free it, allowing the other rider to return to the bottom. He was walking through the snow and had just reached his snowmobile when he began hearing shouts from the bottom of the slope.

"My buddies were yelling, 'Up above!, Up above!' I looked up and the slide was probably 50 feet above our track," Blair said.

He was able to start his sled but wasn't able to climb aboard before being swept off his feet. Blair estimated the slide ran 200 yards and had only a 2-foot crown. He stayed atop the debris pile at first, but eventually was swallowed by the slide, which deposited him near the toe of the avalanche between 2 and 5 feet below the surface, conscious but trapped face down.

"When it started slowing down, that's when I started freaking out," he said. "It got tight, and I couldn't move."

Blair was carrying an avalanche beacon, but it was located in his backpack, which luckily hadn't been ripped from his body during the slide. Blair's close friend and riding partner, Dan Adams, said adrenaline was flowing as the rest of the group scrambled to assemble their shovels and poles, with several riders discovering that their transceiver batteries were dead. Adams was one of the first to reach the area where the group thought Blair was buried.

"My first instinct was that I was going to see him, but then I realized how much snow I was running on," Adams said. "Emotions flew through me right away. I was already thinking about how I was going to tell his wife, Michelle."

Dan's brother, Mike Adams, had begun probing the snow while other riders quickly picked up a signal from Blair's transceiver. On his fourth or fifth probe, Mike's probe struck Blair's helmet. Other members of the party began digging frantically, some with their bare hands. They managed to clear enough snow from around Blair's helmet for him to get air while they completed digging him out.

"When his helmet was exposed, I had to clear an airway," Adams said. "He literally gasped for air. He had snow in his mouth and his nose."

Blair suffered only bumps and bruises from the incident, but said he'll never again ride without making certain his transceiver is strapped to his body and his partners are equipped with transceivers as well. He'll also think twice before rushing to assist another stranded rider, he said.

Adams said the incident was an eye-opening experience that's still emotional, more than a week after the avalanche. He was reminded that it's important to be familiar with avalanche safety gear and for groups to have a plan for how to coordinate a rescue if someone is caught in a slide.

"It's amazing how things slow down and your mechanical skills become a task," Dan said. "You have to know that you're responsible for people's lives out there."