Deseret Morning News, Tuesday, December 14, 2004
Story of survival amid 4 deaths
Snowmobiler recalls the shock of waking up
By Erin Stewart
Deseret Morning News
Ben De Jong's emotions shifted quickly from panic to peace as he struggled to breathe beneath 5 feet of snow.
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Ben De Jong is back home in Bountiful Monday with his wife, Nancy, and their dog Rodney.
Michael Brandy, Deseret Morning News
De Jong recalls picturing his funeral, his wife and two young daughters as he lay buried under an avalanche Saturday in Farmington Canyon. The 27-year-old Bountiful native even said a silent prayer before drifting out of consciousness.
"I thought, 'I'm not going to beg God for my life right now. I'm just going to say I believe in Him,' " he said. "I was in that snow saying goodbye, and then I just faded away. It was so peaceful."
But De Jong's friend and snowmobile partner Trace Workman, 27, wasn't ready to give up. Using an avalanche beacon, Workman located De Jong and dug him out with the help of three other men.
De Jong was face down and blue by the time the men got him out, but Workman was able to resuscitate him.
"Waking up was just the most surreal freaky moment I've ever had," De Jong said. "It was more shocking than the avalanche."
With minimal injuries, De Jong returned to the canyon Monday, where he relived the confused seconds running from a wave of snow flowing down the canyon. Around 9 a.m., De Jong had been videotaping Workman riding down a large chute when both men heard the rumble of an avalanche.
"You could just hear it like a thunderclap, and the whole thing just broke," De Jong said.
Instantly, De Jong thought Workman would be killed by the slide, not thinking the 200-foot-wide avalanche would reach him at the base of the hill. But as the snow pushed closer, De Jong said he tried to run for a cluster of trees after his snowmobile did not start.
"It looked like he jumped and swam," Workman said. "It just engulfed him like an ocean wave, and then there was not a thing there. It was just total white."
De Jong was still conscious after being overtaken by the avalanche but was unable to move more than to make a fist. Almost immediately, he said, it became hard to breathe and he began to yell and panic.
"You always think about how bad it would be to be pinned, but it was so much worse than I could have ever prepared myself for," he said.
De Jong estimates he was "just focused on freaking out" for about three minutes before he suddenly became serene. Although it was hard to breathe, he said he could not feel any pain, pressure nor cold.
The most amazing part of the incident, De Jong added, is that he was home with his family watching himself on the news by noon the same day.
"It was just so crazy how fast it all went because literally four or five hours before I was saying goodbye to this life," he said. "I've never looked at the canyon with the power and the magnitude that it has. It's very humbling."
De Jong's story of survival came on the same weekend as avalanches that claimed the lives of four men in Utah.
"We see these people on TV bawling, and we're sitting here crying because I'm alive. It's hard to understand." he said. "What a horrible weekend."
Workman and De Jong have snowmobiled together for four years, but both men now plan on scaling back their outings.
"I've almost hit a climax now," Workman said. "It's not something I'll forget, but it's not something I'll ever strive to see again."
Both men were grateful they were wearing the avalanche beacons that allowed Workman to find his buddy so quickly.
"It's $150 that saved my life," De Jong said. "We were so prepared, and it still dang near got me."
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