Wild Survivial Story About 1983 Rockies Alpine Avalanche

In 1983, Jim Sevigny and Richard Whitmire were heading up the Supercouloir on Deltaform in the Canadian Rockies. They were about 650 metres up the grade IV climb when an avalanche swept them down the icy couloir.

At the base of the mountain, Sevigny regained consciousness. He had a broken back, injured knees, a fractured arm, an arm with nerve damage, a broken scapula, cracked ribs, broken teeth, a broken nose and was bleeding internally. Whitmire died from the fall. Sevigny decided he would lay down and wait to die.

He then heard a voice telling him to get up and move on. The voice continued and left moments before Sevigny was rescued by skiers. Sevigny experienced the “third man” factor, which many climbers have reported after a near-death experience. It has been described as a coping mechanism and compared to guardian angels. Watch this short clip with Sevigny talking about the accident: