Alaska men rescue moose that fell down a mountain in an avalanche
Alaska men rescue moose that fell down a mountain in an avalanche
Marty Mobley, Rob Uphus and Avery Vucinich spotted something brown struggling inside the monster amount of snow at the Talkeetna Mountains. They realized it was a moose and freed it. Amazingly, the moose appeared uninjured.
A trio of Alaskans made an unusual discovery at the bottom of a giant snow pile when they rescued a moose trapped under an avalanche last week.
Marty Mobley, Rob Uphus and Avery Vucinich, were riding a snow machine about 55 miles from Anchorage on Dec. 28 when they saved the animal that was trapped under a massive avalanche, reports the Alaska Dispatch News.
They had traveled the area at the Hatcher Pass in the Talkeetna Mountains once before and when they returned they realized the tracks were wiped clean by an avalanche.
They were concerned a skier may have fallen in the mess, but they were also concerned for their own safety.
“We had about 2,500 feet of mountain above us still,” Mobley told the newspaper. “Half slid, half didn’t, so we didn’t want to screw around a bunch there.”
The 44-year-old spotted something brown struggling to move inside the large volume of white powder, He feared it may be a person in desperate need of help.
“It looked like a guy’s arm at first because we were expecting to see a skier,” Mobley said. “But it was moaning and groaning and moving and we realized it was a moose, even though only his ears and some of its snout was sticking out of the snow.”
The group believes the moose may have fallen between 1,500 and 2,000 feet off the mountain.
The three reached for their shovels and began frantically moving the snow to free the animal.
It looked like the abominable snowman because its fur was so packed with snow and it looked at us, shook the snow off it, and off it went.
The best was grateful for their help.
“It didn’t even fight us,” Mobley told the newspaper. “It was like, ‘Help me. Help me.’ It was totally docile and let us touch it. It just (lay) there.”
Finally the moose was able to leave and left quite an impression on the three friends.
“It stood right up and towered over us, because we were in kind of a hole from the digging,” Mobley said. “It looked like the abominable snowman because its fur was so packed with snow and it looked at us, shook the snow off it, and off it went.”
The animal appeared to be fine, which shocked his rescuers who assumed the moose would have been injured from the giant tumble.
Mobley told the newspaper avalanches are always a concern in the area and they knew they had to rescue the animal.
“Besides, we deal with a lot of avalanches and a lot of snow,” he said. “That kind of karma is something we don’t pass up.”