Nov. 7, 2025

The Avalanche That Should’ve Killed Mick | Mick Wienholt & Steve | 033

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The Avalanche That Should’ve Killed Mick | Mick Wienholt & Steve | 033
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When 19-year-old climber, Mick Wienholt, set out for a solo adventure in the Colorado mountains, he had no idea it would end in a fight for his life. Fueled by ego he attempted a challenging climb on Grays Peak only to cause an avalanche that should have killed him. Not buried in the snow, Mick hikes back to the trailhead and meets a Steve, a complete stranger—who had no reason to be there.

This powerful true story of survival and divine intervention will leave you speechless. From a catastrophic avalanche to emergency brain surgery, every step of this incredible journey shows how God can orchestrate miracles in the middle of chaos.

🎧 In this episode of When You Look, Mick and Steve relive the day that changed both their lives forever—proving that no coincidence is ever random, and that God still saves.

👉 If you’ve ever questioned whether God still moves in our world, this story will make you believe again.


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Chapters

0:29 - Meet Steve

1:54 - Morning of Nov. 7, 2000

5:45 - At the Trailhead

9:21 - Base of the Route

12:29 - Avalanche

13:41 - Regaining Consciousness

17:53 - Back to the Trail

18:39 - Steve's Morning

21:33 - Bakerville Exit

24:37 - Steve Gets to the Trailhead

26:11 - Steve Encounters Mick

28:46 - First Words

31:40 - Why Get Off the Highway

32:43 - Mountain Bike Crash

34:31 - Hiking Down the Trail

35:26 - Interacting in the Parking Lot

43:57 - Getting Mick's Jacket Off

51:16 - Getting in Steve's Truck

56:40 - Driving to Hospital

1:00:16 - 911 Call

1:01:13 - Arriving at Summit Medical Center

1:05:47 - Steve Drives Home

1:09:50 - Mick Recalls Getting to SMC

1:14:29 - Ambulance to Denver

1:18:03 - At St. Anthony's Hospital

1:20:15 - Brain Surgery

1:23:06 - Full List of Injuries

1:26:42 - Can't Open Mouth

1:29:44 - Hearing a Dial Tone

1:31:01 - Recovery Timeline

1:31:40 - Mick Thanks Steve

1:32:57 - Coincidence or God?

1:45:29 - How Has Your Life Changed?

1:54:04 - Ripple Effect

1
00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,120
You know, I was walking along
this trail and I saw a signature

2
00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:07,160
someone walking.
I didn't know what I was looking

3
00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:11,600
at.
I like something was off, but I

4
00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:17,560
I just couldn't tell what it was
and then as I got closer then I

5
00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:19,680
realized that there was
something very.

6
00:00:19,680 --> 00:00:22,080
Wrong.
Welcome to When You Look, where

7
00:00:22,080 --> 00:00:26,040
ordinary people share their
extraordinary experiences and

8
00:00:26,040 --> 00:00:29,120
you get to decide, was it
coincidence or God?

9
00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:33,480
Steve, welcome to When You Look
man, so good to have you on the

10
00:00:33,480 --> 00:00:35,120
show.
Thanks for joining us.

11
00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:40,960
Thanks for having me. 100%, man.
Well, I'm involved in this

12
00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:43,520
story, believe it or not, for
those that are out there

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00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:46,880
listening, and you are as well
since you're our guest.

14
00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:50,280
But tell us a little bit about
yourself before we jump into

15
00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:52,920
this really neat story that we
both will be sharing.

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00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:58,160
My name is Stave.
I live in Morrison, Co and I've

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00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:04,480
been here for, you know, 20
something years now and lives

18
00:01:04,519 --> 00:01:10,160
the in the foothills with my
wife and our two kids and life

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is good.
Yeah, awesome.

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00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:18,320
Genuinely glad to hear that life
is good and we'll get into some

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00:01:18,320 --> 00:01:20,720
of the reasons more about why
that is the case.

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00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:25,000
So for all the listeners out
there, this is a particularly

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special one.
This is actually my own version,

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00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:34,920
if you will, of a when you look
type of story.

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00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:38,720
So this one is one that I'm
highly involved in, as is Steve.

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00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:41,480
And we're going to see and hear
that intersection here in a

27
00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:43,280
little bit.
But I'm actually going to start

28
00:01:43,280 --> 00:01:45,640
this off with a little bit of
back story and kind of walk

29
00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:48,320
everybody through like we
normally do of what was

30
00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:51,240
happening, where we were, what
was going on.

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00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:53,960
And then Steve will obviously be
hearing from you in a moment or

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two.
But here's kind of what the back

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00:01:55,960 --> 00:01:58,160
story look like, everybody.
We're going to go back to

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November 7th, 2000.
It was Election Day.

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00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:05,640
This was what turned into the
day of the hanging.

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00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:11,640
Chad, this is Al Gore versus
George Bush and it was my first

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00:02:11,640 --> 00:02:15,560
time voting.
So I'm a 19 year old kid and I

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00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:19,520
worked retail.
Monday and Tuesday were my days

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00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:22,440
off.
And so my whole plan was I was

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00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:25,600
going to vote and then go play
in the mountains.

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00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:27,680
I kind of felt like that was my
civic duty.

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00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:30,400
It was my first time.
So that was the plan.

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00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:33,520
I was going to vote and then go
play in the mountains.

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00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:36,800
And I specifically was going to
play in the mountains on the

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00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:40,920
Colorado Divide or the
Continental Divide because at

46
00:02:40,920 --> 00:02:45,160
the time I lived in Greater
Denver, I lived in the Thornton

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00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:49,160
area near 104th and Federal.
And some of those specifics kind

48
00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:53,320
of matter because it was my
first time voting and I didn't

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00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:57,280
know where my polling place was.
So the closest polling place

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00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:01,480
that I knew of was roughly 15
minutes away over off of

51
00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:07,400
Colorado and roughly 124.
So I get up, I go over to that

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00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:10,960
polling place hoping, thinking
I'm going to be able to vote.

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And they're like, you're not,
you're not allowed to vote here.

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This isn't your polling place.
So I'm like, well, where is my

55
00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:17,960
polling place?
And they explained that it

56
00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:20,160
ultimately was a.
Quarter of a mile behind my

57
00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:22,800
apartment over near 104th and
Federal.

58
00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:26,160
So I had slept 15 minutes over
to Colorado.

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00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:30,600
I now go 15 minutes back
basically right behind my house.

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00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:35,600
And at this point, I am voting
and kind of massively behind

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00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:40,040
what I'll consider to be sort of
like a schedule for playing in

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00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:43,800
the mountains essentially.
So I raced to the Continental

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Divide right after voting.
And again, all of these types of

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things are going to kind of play
in here.

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00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:55,760
And I was driving specifically
to the Grays and Tories

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00:03:55,760 --> 00:04:01,480
trailhead because my plan was to
climb both Grays and Tories, but

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00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:05,200
decline them via the lost Rat
Cool R on Grays.

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00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:07,800
And so for the listeners that
aren't familiar, Grays and

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00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:12,600
Tories are two incredibly
popular 14,000 foot peaks.

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00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:16,160
Lots of people climb them on a
summer weekend because they're

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00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:19,640
the closest to Denver and
they're each topping out more

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00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:22,400
than 14,000 feet.
So they're known as fourteeners,

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00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:26,240
and they're pretty easy to climb
or to hike ultimately within a

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00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:29,800
day.
And you can actually get 2 of

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00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:32,920
them essentially checked off of
your fourteener list, if you

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will.
And because.

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00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:38,160
People do that all the.
Time, and I mean truly all the

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time, especially in summer, it's
incredibly busy up there.

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00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:47,560
I decided because I was a 19
year old kid with a raging ego

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that I was going to do it
differently and that I was going

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to do it better.
So I decided I'll go up in

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winter conditions.
Remember, this is November and

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00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:03,160
I'm going to climb what amounts
to a the type of double black

84
00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:07,080
diamond that people would ski
down at a ski resort.

85
00:05:07,280 --> 00:05:10,240
So think of a chute.
It was called a Cool R and I was

86
00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:14,000
specifically going to climb up
that Cool R and then get on the

87
00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:19,040
Ridge, cruise up to the summit
of Gray's, drop into the saddle

88
00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:23,480
and go over to Tori's, and then
drop back down in between the

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00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:27,000
two of them at that saddle and
cruise down the trail and back

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00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:30,680
to the car.
That was the plan.

91
00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:33,360
OK.
Are.

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00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:37,360
You telling me that they they
did not go exactly to plan is?

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00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:39,920
I.
Just would have guessed that.

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00:05:40,240 --> 00:05:43,040
Yes, exactly.
I'm, I'm foreshadowing here a

95
00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:47,400
little bit so.
It's about 90 minutes or so from

96
00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:52,320
where I lived to the Grayson
Tories trailhead, and I get

97
00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:55,840
there late morning.
I'm thinking that this is

98
00:05:55,880 --> 00:06:02,000
probably 10/30, 11:00-ish maybe
by the time that I get there.

99
00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:05,480
And for all the listeners,
again, some of you may be very

100
00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:08,720
familiar with Colorado or
mountaineering in general, but

101
00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:12,200
for playing in the mountains,
this is a very, very late start.

102
00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:16,320
And that kind of matters because
I'm in a rush sort of that that

103
00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:19,960
that knowing that this is a late
start is really kind of driving

104
00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:26,080
me to be very hasty here.
So I get to the parking lot, I'm

105
00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:28,160
getting suited up, I'm at the
trailhead.

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00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:32,280
And that's when I realize that I
don't have my climbing helmet.

107
00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:39,520
And my brother had borrowed my
climbing helmet to take a client

108
00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:43,800
of his rock climbing roughly a
week prior.

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00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:47,720
So it had been away from me for
a little bit, but hadn't really

110
00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:50,680
registered.
And here I am in the parking

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00:06:50,680 --> 00:06:55,960
lot, behind schedule, so to
speak, and I don't have my

112
00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:58,720
helmet.
Now, bicycling was a big part of

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00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:01,520
my life, and I always rode my
bike with a helmet.

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00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:05,520
I always climbed with a helmet,
and I didn't have my helmet.

115
00:07:05,880 --> 00:07:11,720
But here I am ready to roll.
And I remember saying to myself,

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00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:16,720
I'm just climbing snow.
It'll be fine.

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00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:22,840
So I continue to rock'n'roll.
I got suited up and I cruised up

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00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:25,800
the trail with my plastic
mountaineering boots on.

119
00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:31,040
I had ski poles, I had crampons
and two technical ice tools

120
00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:33,920
strapped to my backpack.
And then, you know, water

121
00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:36,280
snacks, like that type of stuff
that was in my pack.

122
00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:40,240
And I basically was blasting up
the trail as fast as I could

123
00:07:40,480 --> 00:07:44,280
because again, I'm feeling kind
of behind schedule ultimately.

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00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:49,120
So I met what I think was about
four people coming down the

125
00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:51,520
trail.
So I'm going up and going into

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00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:53,440
the Backcountry.
They're coming down and out.

127
00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:58,320
And it was basically 2 dads from
what I recall, and their two

128
00:07:58,320 --> 00:07:59,520
sons.
And it looked like they were

129
00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:02,040
kind of out snowshoeing for the
day or for the morning.

130
00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:06,080
Had a nice conversation with
them briefly and then kept

131
00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:10,720
rocking up the trail.
And it's a just under 3 miles to

132
00:08:10,720 --> 00:08:14,680
the base of the route.
And much of that is on the trail

133
00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:18,960
up until you get to a very
prominent sign that's on the

134
00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:20,600
trail.
So this trail sign is where I

135
00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:25,840
deviated off of trail and then
began to kind of navigate off

136
00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:29,560
trail, including a whole lot of
post holing, which is basically

137
00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:34,840
where you're sinking in to the
snow, usually up to your knee or

138
00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:36,960
just above your knee.
That's considered post holding

139
00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:38,600
basically.
So it makes the travel pretty

140
00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:41,120
arduous, but you don't have that
far to go.

141
00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:44,480
So instead of switching to
something like snowshoes or ski

142
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poles, you just kind of deal
with that, that deep snow

143
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basically.
But for all the listeners that

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00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:52,800
are out there, it's really
important for everybody to be

145
00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:56,320
aware of the fact that this is
November.

146
00:08:56,960 --> 00:09:00,800
So November looks like it's
winter conditions because

147
00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:06,200
everything is blanketed in white
snow, but there's really not a

148
00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:10,640
lot of snow.
And up to a certain point, more

149
00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:14,840
snow is good for the snowpack.
And then sometimes too much snow

150
00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:18,040
is not good for the snowpack,
but very little snow is

151
00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:21,320
generally speaking, not very
great for the snowpack.

152
00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:26,320
So I continue to work my way up
to the base of the route.

153
00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:30,280
This again is Los Rat Kular.
And I get to Los Rat Kular and I

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00:09:30,280 --> 00:09:35,280
take a quick break to really
kind of like get myself reset.

155
00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:38,920
I took a a water break, got some
snacks, that type of thing, and

156
00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:42,720
began to sort of assess what I
was going to be facing because I

157
00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:44,440
had never climbed this route
before.

158
00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:51,120
So base of the route is around
12,800 feet and I start up the

159
00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:53,320
route, which is still pretty low
angle.

160
00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:58,320
And so I'm still using my ski
poles to help me go up.

161
00:09:58,560 --> 00:10:02,760
But we're definitely now well
beyond sort of a, a, a hike or a

162
00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:06,480
walk type of thing.
We're now trying to and actually

163
00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:11,120
ascending a face that that you
would ski down, for example.

164
00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:17,800
So I get probably 100 feet or so
up and the route steepens.

165
00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:23,680
So at that point I stop, I put
my ski poles into my backpack.

166
00:10:23,880 --> 00:10:25,800
That'll be a really important
part later.

167
00:10:25,800 --> 00:10:34,040
So I put them into my pack, not
onto my pack, and I took the two

168
00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:37,600
ice tools that I had.
So these are technical ice tools

169
00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:40,240
for ice climbing.
I took those off of my pack and

170
00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:42,680
began to use them to help me
ascend.

171
00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:45,560
Didn't need the crampons at this
point and what I was

172
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experiencing was the snowpack
being very soft and not that

173
00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:55,200
much of it.
So the crampons which are sort

174
00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:58,880
of like the spikes that go on
the bottom of your boot, those

175
00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:02,680
were of no use to me.
So I didn't have those on, but I

176
00:11:02,680 --> 00:11:05,280
needed something for the
additional purchase with my

177
00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:07,600
hands, hence the reason for the
ice tools.

178
00:11:08,240 --> 00:11:12,360
So I'm now continuing to ascend.
I've got the ice tools, they

179
00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:16,840
come with straps called leashes.
Those leashes are strapped to my

180
00:11:16,840 --> 00:11:19,800
wrist, which again will be
pretty important here in just a

181
00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:23,600
few moments.
And I continue up the route.

182
00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:28,120
And at this point, I'm now
cumulatively about 200 feet up

183
00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:31,800
the route.
So I can now see where the cool

184
00:11:31,800 --> 00:11:37,160
R itself begins to take a left
hand bend and begins to narrow.

185
00:11:37,400 --> 00:11:42,280
And what I'm looking at is that
narrowing it right around 13,100

186
00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:45,760
feet.
So I'm at right around 13,000

187
00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:53,360
feet and I'm continuing up and I
hear a whomp.

188
00:11:54,560 --> 00:12:01,000
And immediately I knew that that
meant avalanche and I looked up

189
00:12:02,040 --> 00:12:05,160
because you know, the, the, the
climbing position that you're in

190
00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:09,720
is your face into the snow and
you're using your hands and your

191
00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:14,240
feet to sort of a ascend almost
like you're ascending a ladder

192
00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:15,320
in a sense.
OK.

193
00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:19,920
And so your face in and you're
typically looking at roughly

194
00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:23,320
your own eye level in order to
get good purchase or you're

195
00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:26,240
looking down at your feet in
order to find good positioning

196
00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:29,800
for your feet in order to be
able to continue to ascend.

197
00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:35,240
So I hear the womb.
I look up and immediately I

198
00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:39,920
realize avalanche and I can see
the fracture line not that far

199
00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:43,400
above me.
And I thought, oh, this is not

200
00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:47,040
good.
So despite being in this

201
00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:51,080
climbing position, trying to
ascend on on all fours, hands

202
00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:55,840
and feet, and the the grade
being quite steep, I immediately

203
00:12:55,840 --> 00:13:01,960
turned to my left and attempted
to run perpendicular to the

204
00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:05,400
slide.
And naturally that was a little

205
00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:09,320
precarious, but I literally got
my right foot.

206
00:13:09,320 --> 00:13:13,520
So as I turned left, I got my
right foot moved in front of me.

207
00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:17,680
So essentially swung around in
front of my body in an attempt

208
00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:21,840
to move perpendicular to the
direction of the slide and was

209
00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:27,440
immediately swept off my feet.
And at that point, I remember

210
00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:31,720
distinctly saying to myself,
this is going to suck for my

211
00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:36,920
family, especially my mom.
And the lights went out.

212
00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:43,800
That was it.
So I came to at the bottom.

213
00:13:45,520 --> 00:13:51,240
I have no idea how long I was
unconscious, but I came to at

214
00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:55,720
the bottom of that route.
So I'm now, we'll call it 200 or

215
00:13:55,720 --> 00:13:58,360
so feet below where I was
before.

216
00:13:59,920 --> 00:14:06,120
And I regain consciousness in a
position where I'm sitting

217
00:14:06,120 --> 00:14:11,480
almost on a on what would seem
like a backless chair or a

218
00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:14,360
stool.
And what I mean by that is that

219
00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:20,640
I'm on a rock, very large rock,
and my feet are below me like I

220
00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:23,880
would dangling below me, like I
would be sitting on a chair, OK.

221
00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:31,680
And I'm laying backwards on my
back and my backpack is still

222
00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:36,560
attached to me.
OK, So I'm full.

223
00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:40,040
I mean, it's just, it's, it's
just such an odd position to be

224
00:14:40,040 --> 00:14:42,680
in that it was very distinct in
terms of AI.

225
00:14:42,680 --> 00:14:47,960
Remember regaining consciousness
in that position and then

226
00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:53,080
sitting upright from it and
beginning to assess things

227
00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:56,920
because I legitimately thought
I'm done.

228
00:14:57,360 --> 00:15:01,040
I truly thought that was the end
earlier.

229
00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:07,840
So I immediately begin to assess
things and it sort of seemed

230
00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:14,800
like everything was OK, or at
the very least all general

231
00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:19,240
systems were a go.
I knew something was wrong

232
00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:23,760
though, and I just had this
sense of I need to go.

233
00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:28,120
I should not be here, this is
not the place to remain.

234
00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:32,720
I need to go.
Now, up to this point, we've

235
00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:36,400
only talked about the four other
people, and all of the listeners

236
00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:39,880
have probably realized by this
point what hasn't been said.

237
00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:43,280
But what has been pretty clear,
which is that I'm alone.

238
00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:46,800
I'm alone when I'm climbing.
Other than those four people

239
00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:49,080
that I've seen when they were
hiking in the opposite

240
00:15:49,080 --> 00:15:51,320
direction, I've been alone this
entire time.

241
00:15:51,920 --> 00:15:55,760
So it's very apparent to me that
I'm alone and that I need to go.

242
00:15:57,120 --> 00:16:02,160
So I start to figure out what
equipment do I have?

243
00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:06,520
Both ice tools are gone.
And remember, those were

244
00:16:06,680 --> 00:16:12,280
strapped to my wrists.
So that gives us some degree of

245
00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:15,640
the severity of the falling and
everything that goes along

246
00:16:15,640 --> 00:16:18,360
because they were literally not
loosely strapped.

247
00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:20,280
They were securely strapped to
my wrist.

248
00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:25,400
Both of them are gone.
In addition to that, the ski

249
00:16:25,400 --> 00:16:30,200
poles that were in my pack, one
of them remained, the other one

250
00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:34,200
was long gone.
Just sort of indicative of

251
00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:38,560
everything that was happening
and how much was really going on

252
00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:41,760
basically in terms of all of the
tumbling and all of that type of

253
00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:45,520
stuff.
So I realize I am now going to

254
00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:47,680
have to retrace my steps.
I'm going to have to go back

255
00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:50,320
through all of that post holing
in the deeper snow in order to

256
00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:53,120
get back to the trail.
And so I'm like, OK, well, at

257
00:16:53,120 --> 00:16:56,840
least I have one ski pole.
I'm going to grab the ski pole

258
00:16:56,840 --> 00:16:59,120
out of my pack.
So I distinctly remember

259
00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:03,600
reaching over my right shoulder,
pulling that ski pole out, and

260
00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:06,720
then setting off back to the
car.

261
00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:12,560
So I'm now losing altitude, so
I'm dropping down off of these

262
00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:15,520
series of steps.
And so that was helpful, but it

263
00:17:15,520 --> 00:17:18,680
was really quite arduous to get
back to the trail.

264
00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:21,520
And I was really looking forward
to getting back to the trail

265
00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:24,040
because getting back to the
trail, even though there was

266
00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:26,720
snow on the trail, there was not
a lot of snow.

267
00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:29,160
And it was going to make for
travel to be significantly

268
00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:31,320
easier and also allow me to pick
up pace.

269
00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:35,000
But it was significantly
challenging to get back to the

270
00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:36,680
trail.
I had to stop a number of

271
00:17:36,680 --> 00:17:40,200
different times because of the
snow, even though I was or the

272
00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:44,240
travel in the snow, even though
I was retracing my steps, trying

273
00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:46,960
to step in the same types of
holes that I had made with my

274
00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:51,360
feet from before, and having to
stop a number of different times

275
00:17:51,360 --> 00:17:55,560
until I got back to the trail.
So I get back to the trail.

276
00:17:55,600 --> 00:18:00,120
And at this point, I'm quite
relieved that I've made it this

277
00:18:00,120 --> 00:18:04,520
far because as mentioned, it
really wasn't the easiest

278
00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:08,160
travel.
And now I could basically begin

279
00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:13,120
to walk.
It was much, much easier because

280
00:18:13,120 --> 00:18:18,920
that trail is kind of very
pleasantly graded in both

281
00:18:18,920 --> 00:18:22,920
directions up until that point.
So now I just kind of have a

282
00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:26,200
slight downhill, almost like a
tailwind in a sense, just

283
00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:28,960
because it's just easier to walk
in that direction.

284
00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:33,880
So I'm going to pause.
Here, we're going to come back

285
00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:37,800
to me in a few minutes, but
that's kind of what I was up to

286
00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:42,320
that morning.
So, Steve, tell us what you were

287
00:18:42,320 --> 00:18:49,680
up to that morning.
So in November of the 2000, I

288
00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:53,600
had fairly recently moved to
Denver.

289
00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:58,080
I was staying with a, a friend
of mine that that allowed me to,

290
00:18:58,080 --> 00:19:02,080
to, to, you know, take a guest
room for a little bit.

291
00:19:02,120 --> 00:19:09,000
And I, you know, I hadn't really
gotten any regular work yet.

292
00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:12,720
And, you know, done couple
little odd things here and

293
00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:15,280
there, but didn't have a regular
job.

294
00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:19,360
And so I too woke up and
thought, well, it's Election

295
00:19:19,360 --> 00:19:24,080
Day, I should vote today.
So I found my polling place,

296
00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:28,720
which which it was a Firehouse
just right about a block away.

297
00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:33,600
And, you know, so I was, you
know, in the little booths and

298
00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:37,720
looking around at the cool
trucks and, and, you know,

299
00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:41,880
hopefully I didn't have any
hanging chads that day, but

300
00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:47,840
filled out my ballot and, and
then afterwards, you know, and I

301
00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:53,280
got up pretty late, I, I might
add, but, but I didn't have

302
00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:57,560
anything to do.
And I thought, you know what, at

303
00:19:57,560 --> 00:20:03,120
the time I I had a a Toyota
Tacoma that was fairly new to

304
00:20:03,120 --> 00:20:06,760
me.
And I had recently moved from a

305
00:20:06,760 --> 00:20:09,080
place where there really wasn't
any snow.

306
00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:12,560
And, you know, I thought, I'm
going to go find a place to

307
00:20:12,560 --> 00:20:14,640
drive my truck in some snow
today.

308
00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:19,080
And that's really the only thing
that I was thinking.

309
00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:26,160
And so I set off on I-70 having,
you know, not being a

310
00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:33,680
Mountaineer, not having any sort
of idea of where I was going and

311
00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:40,680
set out without any food, no
water, no gear of any kind.

312
00:20:40,840 --> 00:20:49,560
Just went for a drive and, you
know, something I'd never done

313
00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:53,320
before, you know, been been in
Colorado since August and, you

314
00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:55,720
know, just set out for the, you
know, for the afternoon.

315
00:20:55,720 --> 00:20:59,920
It was fairly late in the
afternoon when I decided to do

316
00:20:59,920 --> 00:21:03,600
this.
And, you know, because in

317
00:21:03,600 --> 00:21:07,240
November, I'm going to guess
that the sunsets somewhere, you

318
00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:11,240
know, that, you know, it starts
going down, getting a little

319
00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:14,640
cooler somewhere in the 435
o'clock range.

320
00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:17,640
I'm going to guess that's pretty
much correct.

321
00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:24,480
And so, you know, it was.
So I left the Berkeley

322
00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:28,920
neighborhood of Denver
somewhere, I don't know, I'm

323
00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:32,080
going to guess maybe one o'clock
2:00 somewhere around there.

324
00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:39,200
And so went up by 70 and I got
to the Bakerville exit having no

325
00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:45,760
idea that that's where Grayson
Tories was, and went across the

326
00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:50,880
bridge of the highway and there
was a two track Rd. going up the

327
00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:54,880
hill and it was very snowy and I
thought oh this is perfect.

328
00:21:55,960 --> 00:22:03,680
So I put it in 4 wheel drive and
start going up and I'd say that

329
00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:09,880
I've made it not even a quarter
of a mile up that road and

330
00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:18,880
immediately was thinking this
was a terrible idea and you

331
00:22:18,880 --> 00:22:22,400
know, just not very experienced
with any of this stuff.

332
00:22:23,360 --> 00:22:30,440
The the road was a two track,
completely unmaintained Rd. with

333
00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:35,680
very deep snow for a stock, you
know, not lifted, not bigger

334
00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:41,000
tires, you know, stock Tacoma.
And, you know, and as I, as I

335
00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:45,200
was going up, you know, you're
pitching and, you know, lunging

336
00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:48,520
all over the, you know, the, the
cab of the truck as it, you

337
00:22:48,520 --> 00:22:52,200
know, goes over bumps and holes
and, you know, ruts.

338
00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:56,080
And that's, you know, it's, you
know, you know, not a

339
00:22:56,080 --> 00:23:00,600
comfortable ride and quickly
realized that there's no place

340
00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:04,920
to turn around.
And so, you know, the only way

341
00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:09,520
to get back down is either to go
forward and find a place to turn

342
00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:13,600
around or back down, which
seemed like a terrible or even

343
00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:18,160
worse idea.
And so, you know, so I, I kept

344
00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:21,760
going and, you know, and this
was not something I was

345
00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:25,160
comfortable with.
And, you know, and I, you know,

346
00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:28,200
and I'm looking at that, you
know, it's late in the day.

347
00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:31,720
If I get stuck, I'm screwed.
What am I going to do?

348
00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:35,240
And you know, you know, and I'm,
you know, all these things are

349
00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:37,120
going through my mind.
I'm like, this is not good.

350
00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:45,400
So anyway, I, you know, I have
no idea recollection of how far

351
00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:48,520
that trail is or that road that
goes up to the trailhead.

352
00:23:50,240 --> 00:23:55,000
I did not encounter any other
traffic, thankfully, because

353
00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:57,160
there's only two tracks.
I don't know what you would do

354
00:23:57,160 --> 00:24:01,000
if that were the case because
going off of the, you know, out

355
00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:03,600
of the two ruts didn't seem like
an option.

356
00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:10,600
And anyways, so, you know, you
know, a couple of places where I

357
00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:18,480
was really regretting this whole
idea and but you know, the truck

358
00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:22,800
is great and it did very well.
And I got all the way up to the

359
00:24:22,800 --> 00:24:24,800
top.
And so, you know, it kind of

360
00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:28,320
eased out and it, you know, snow
wasn't as deep and it kind of

361
00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:32,200
opened up into this Pretty
Little valley or park, I guess

362
00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:35,240
it would be.
And, you know, clearing opening

363
00:24:35,600 --> 00:24:40,600
and, you know, went through and
as I rounded the corner, I see

364
00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:45,000
that there's a parking lot and a
trailhead and there's one other

365
00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:50,320
vehicle in that parking lot.
And it is a maroon Tacoma

366
00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:55,000
exactly like mine.
And, and I just thought, well,

367
00:24:55,000 --> 00:24:57,480
that's funny, the matching
truck.

368
00:24:58,520 --> 00:25:02,760
And so I went up and I parked
right next to it and got out of

369
00:25:02,760 --> 00:25:07,120
the truck.
And again, no water, no food, no

370
00:25:07,120 --> 00:25:09,960
beer.
No, you know, I, I, you know, I,

371
00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:15,280
this was not something that was
well planned or thought out in

372
00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:20,440
any way, shape or form.
So I got out and just kind of

373
00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:22,320
looked around.
You can, you know, see there's a

374
00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:25,840
couple of peaks and it's snowy
and it, and, and the sun was,

375
00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:33,160
you know, starting to get close
to going down, you know, behind

376
00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:36,760
the ridges.
And, you know, then, you know,

377
00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:42,160
there are to the West there.
And, and I, you know, and I

378
00:25:42,160 --> 00:25:44,560
thought, well, you know, I got
all the way up.

379
00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:49,400
I might as well just go for a
little walk or something.

380
00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:58,840
And, and so I, you know, so I, I
put my very light jacket on and

381
00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:04,040
just started walking.
And I don't know how far I went.

382
00:26:04,040 --> 00:26:08,240
My guess is that it was maybe a
few 100 yards.

383
00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:13,600
I, I'm not sure how far it was,
but you know, I was walking

384
00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:21,560
along this trail and I saw a
figure, someone walking and I

385
00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:25,680
don't know, you know, when I
first saw this, this person, I

386
00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:28,120
didn't know what I was looking
at.

387
00:26:28,120 --> 00:26:34,120
I like something was off, but I
didn't, I, I, I just couldn't

388
00:26:34,120 --> 00:26:41,880
tell what it was.
And then as I got closer, then I

389
00:26:42,120 --> 00:26:47,080
then I realized that there was
something very wrong that I

390
00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:52,880
couldn't tell if this person was
white or black.

391
00:26:54,160 --> 00:26:58,200
I feel like I just couldn't
help, you know that, you know,

392
00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:03,280
so this person's face.
And spoiler alert, it's you.

393
00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:15,440
So yeah.
But so the so, so your whole

394
00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:25,200
face was covered in dried black
blood and other fluids.

395
00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:29,760
You know, some of them were red,
some of them were other colors.

396
00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:36,320
And then you're wearing a like
a, a jacket, a shell jacket.

397
00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:43,120
And it had what kind of looked
like a rhinoceros horn on your

398
00:27:43,120 --> 00:27:49,840
chest that was built up like a
like a kind of like a volcano,

399
00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:57,240
but it was from fluids dripping
off of your head and freezing

400
00:27:57,440 --> 00:28:03,120
onto your jacket.
And it was mounded up like

401
00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:06,880
pretty high.
And and then there it was just

402
00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:11,520
your your face was deformed, you
know, so, you know, looking at

403
00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:16,840
you now, I would not have there,
I would not have been able to

404
00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:20,280
pick you up, pick you out of a
line up for any.

405
00:28:20,280 --> 00:28:22,040
There's no way.
I, like you were just

406
00:28:22,040 --> 00:28:26,400
unrecognizable, you know, that,
you know, just there was

407
00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:35,440
swelling and, you know, deformed
aspects of your faith and I, you

408
00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:39,720
know, and I, I just, you know,
and so, you know, I, I, you

409
00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:43,840
know, as I got closer, you know,
I was just like, Oh my, what is

410
00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:50,120
this, you know, and so I got up
and, and I and I was like, what

411
00:28:50,120 --> 00:28:56,880
happened to you?
And what was your response?

412
00:28:59,320 --> 00:29:04,800
Well, I distinctly remember, now
you may remember it differently

413
00:29:04,800 --> 00:29:08,160
and so this will be the fun part
to to hear, but I distinctly

414
00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:11,640
remember you asking that at me,
that exact question, what

415
00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:14,160
happened to you?
And I remember telling you

416
00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:17,160
matter of factly, I was in an
avalanche.

417
00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:21,880
And then I continued to walk
past you.

418
00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:27,480
And the reason for that was I
needed to get to my car.

419
00:29:28,520 --> 00:29:30,200
And we'll come back to that in a
second.

420
00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:34,600
What do you recall as my?
Yeah, what do you recall as my

421
00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:37,800
response?
So what I recall your response

422
00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:45,680
being is and that's about as
much as I could make out.

423
00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:53,240
Wow.
And so, and so I came back to

424
00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:57,040
try to ask again because I did
not understand what you said

425
00:29:57,400 --> 00:30:07,520
because it was like, and, and
so, you know, and then, and it's

426
00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:09,800
true.
I I do recall that you didn't

427
00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:15,960
really want to talk.
And so, yeah, you, you did keep

428
00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:18,920
going there for a second, but
you weren't moving very fast.

429
00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:24,120
Is it easy to catch up with you?
Yeah, wow.

430
00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:28,960
Well, we're going to explain why
that was the case here in a

431
00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:32,520
second.
And, and for the listeners, this

432
00:30:32,520 --> 00:30:36,360
is this is the first time that
Steve and I have had this level

433
00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:39,960
of conversation about this.
So I am learning some of this

434
00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:43,200
stuff in real time folks.
And it's really, really quite

435
00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:47,480
interesting.
So let me just wind us back like

436
00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:51,200
a moment or two, essentially.
So Steve gets off of the

437
00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:54,160
highway, he comes up the fire
road.

438
00:30:54,960 --> 00:30:58,520
And for all the listeners, this
is a it's exactly what he's

439
00:30:58,520 --> 00:31:02,800
describing.
It is a dirt road and there's a

440
00:31:02,800 --> 00:31:06,160
sign that literally says 4 wheel
drive only.

441
00:31:06,560 --> 00:31:09,520
And then when Steve and I are up
this road, it's just the 2

442
00:31:09,520 --> 00:31:12,600
tracks from the tire tracks from
the prior vehicles.

443
00:31:12,720 --> 00:31:16,280
It's covered in snow.
And in essence, you were like,

444
00:31:16,680 --> 00:31:19,200
nobody really has any business
being there unless you're like

445
00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:20,920
specifically wanting to be
there.

446
00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:24,560
And most people don't want to be
there because it's winter

447
00:31:24,560 --> 00:31:27,680
conditions.
But not really winter yet.

448
00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:31,800
And it's also a Tuesday, you
know, so it's only people that

449
00:31:31,800 --> 00:31:34,000
are off work.
So it's not very popular.

450
00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:36,600
Like this road is not packed out
in any way.

451
00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:39,920
And everything that Steve has
described is like totally true.

452
00:31:40,440 --> 00:31:43,520
So let me ask you this question
real quick and then we'll cut

453
00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:46,640
back to me on the trail.
But why did you get off the

454
00:31:46,640 --> 00:31:50,600
highway there?
No idea, because there was

455
00:31:50,600 --> 00:31:52,760
nothing.
There was nothing else at that

456
00:31:52,760 --> 00:31:57,000
exit.
And you know, I knew that I was

457
00:31:57,000 --> 00:31:59,400
getting fairly close to the
Eisenhower.

458
00:31:59,720 --> 00:32:05,280
And once I got to that, that
there would be, you know, I knew

459
00:32:05,640 --> 00:32:08,040
what And you know, I knew that
it was in Silverthorne and it's

460
00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:10,960
all more developed.
And I was just thinking, well,

461
00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:13,320
you know, this is a place, I
don't know where it is.

462
00:32:13,320 --> 00:32:17,000
And it looks, you know, like
there would be a snowy Rd.

463
00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:18,960
I could drive on and that's why
I got off there.

464
00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:23,720
But no other reason than that.
Not planned, not thought

465
00:32:23,720 --> 00:32:30,880
through, just oh, I'll go here.
Yeah, amazing.

466
00:32:32,200 --> 00:32:35,040
Well, you're in in the parking
lot, as you were saying.

467
00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:39,000
You're walking on the trail and
we come across each other.

468
00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:42,840
But right before that, I'm on
trail trying to make it back to

469
00:32:42,840 --> 00:32:46,680
the parking lot.
And in high school, I had

470
00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:49,560
crashed my mountain bike.
And mountain biking and rode

471
00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:52,560
bicycling were very big parts of
my life in high school and

472
00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:54,880
actually still remain the case
today.

473
00:32:55,320 --> 00:32:59,600
And I was deep in the woods and
I crashed my mountain bike, and

474
00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:03,160
I split my knee open pretty
severely.

475
00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:07,760
And I split it open right on the
part where it would bend.

476
00:33:08,160 --> 00:33:12,920
So I essentially couldn't use
that leg because of how badly it

477
00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:14,880
was split open.
I didn't want to continue to

478
00:33:14,880 --> 00:33:17,960
move it a million times and
pedaling and continue to make it

479
00:33:17,960 --> 00:33:21,920
worse.
So I took my cycling jersey off,

480
00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:25,240
wrapped it around my knee with
some degree of compression, and

481
00:33:25,240 --> 00:33:31,240
then rode 1 legged many miles
back to my car and then drove

482
00:33:31,240 --> 00:33:36,000
myself to the hospital.
And I'm saying that because that

483
00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:42,760
was the anchor that I had for my
mentality when I regained

484
00:33:42,760 --> 00:33:46,280
consciousness.
So I decided as I regained

485
00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:50,320
consciousness, get back to the
car, get back to the car and

486
00:33:50,320 --> 00:33:53,800
then get to the hospital.
Get back to the car, drive

487
00:33:53,800 --> 00:33:58,840
yourself to the hospital.
So I'm walking down the trail

488
00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:03,120
and as I'm walking down the
trail, I was talking earlier

489
00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:06,240
that the the degree of travel
now is much easier.

490
00:34:06,760 --> 00:34:10,199
So I'm beginning to take
assessment of what is going on

491
00:34:10,199 --> 00:34:14,520
as I'm hiking back towards the
parking lot with my sole focus

492
00:34:14,520 --> 00:34:20,120
being get to the car, step one,
Step 2, then get to the

493
00:34:20,120 --> 00:34:23,040
hospital.
OK, and and I'm fully expecting

494
00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:26,600
drive myself to the hospital
again, based on prior

495
00:34:26,600 --> 00:34:29,840
experiences, this seems like
it's going to be totally

496
00:34:29,840 --> 00:34:34,360
reasonable.
OK, so hiking down the trail,

497
00:34:34,800 --> 00:34:38,760
I'm assessing what's going on.
It seems like on the whole all

498
00:34:38,760 --> 00:34:43,000
systems are a go like meaning
I'm I'm good enough to keep

499
00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:51,400
moving but I am noticing that
blood continues to drip into my

500
00:34:51,400 --> 00:34:58,600
right eye and every time I try
to stop that or move it in some

501
00:34:58,600 --> 00:35:04,520
way by putting my gloved hand up
there, it just gets worse.

502
00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:09,560
So it goes from annoying and not
really good because I know I'm

503
00:35:09,560 --> 00:35:15,480
bleeding to way worse than that.
So I I truly remember deciding,

504
00:35:15,560 --> 00:35:18,720
OK, just leave it alone.
It's better if you don't touch

505
00:35:18,720 --> 00:35:21,800
it, OK?
And then I also knew that

506
00:35:21,800 --> 00:35:24,720
something else was wrong because
I was spitting blood.

507
00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:33,280
So then we get to you and I
interacting and you asked me

508
00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:39,120
what happened and my response
was the garbled, I was in an

509
00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:44,960
avalanche.
And my singular focus is get to

510
00:35:44,960 --> 00:35:48,240
the truck, drive to the
hospital.

511
00:35:48,360 --> 00:35:55,520
OK, so I am viewing you
transparently and unfortunately

512
00:35:55,520 --> 00:35:59,480
as an annoyance, and it's
terrible for me to say that, but

513
00:35:59,480 --> 00:36:03,040
that's the truth, right?
So you asked me like you pursued

514
00:36:03,040 --> 00:36:04,840
me.
I remember you following behind

515
00:36:04,840 --> 00:36:06,760
me, and you asked me again and
I.

516
00:36:06,760 --> 00:36:09,200
Told you very matter.
Of factly, or at least again,

517
00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:13,680
that's how I recall it.
I was in an Avalanche and I

518
00:36:13,680 --> 00:36:20,280
continued to walk over to my
Toyota and you followed me.

519
00:36:21,040 --> 00:36:27,480
And my standard practice anytime
I went into the Backcountry was

520
00:36:27,480 --> 00:36:31,600
always to leave my car keys
locked in my car.

521
00:36:32,240 --> 00:36:38,280
And with pickup trucks, what I
had was a spare key bolted to

522
00:36:38,280 --> 00:36:41,800
the underneath of the pickup
truck bed so no one would ever

523
00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:44,520
see it.
But it was essentially my

524
00:36:44,520 --> 00:36:48,480
insurance so that in the event I
ever got in a super precarious

525
00:36:48,480 --> 00:36:54,360
position in the Backcountry and
for some crazy reason lost my

526
00:36:54,360 --> 00:36:58,800
backpack, that would have had my
keys in it and I could then make

527
00:36:58,800 --> 00:37:01,840
it back to my car, at least I
would have wheels.

528
00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:05,800
And so that is why I always
locked my keys in my car as

529
00:37:05,800 --> 00:37:07,880
opposed to putting them in my
back and taking them.

530
00:37:08,280 --> 00:37:12,960
That was the logic at least.
OK, so we're at the car.

531
00:37:13,080 --> 00:37:15,080
I'm at the car, you're at the
car, OK.

532
00:37:15,840 --> 00:37:20,480
And I needed to get in the car.
Because as you were talking

533
00:37:20,480 --> 00:37:25,480
about, OK, it's cold, the sun is
setting, we are now solidly into

534
00:37:25,560 --> 00:37:29,040
late afternoon.
And depending upon where you're

535
00:37:29,040 --> 00:37:32,880
at in this parking lot, it's
fully shaded and we were in the

536
00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:34,560
fully shaded part of the parking
lot.

537
00:37:34,720 --> 00:37:35,920
Yeah.
And the temperature was

538
00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:37,840
dropping.
Yeah, the temperature was

539
00:37:37,840 --> 00:37:40,200
dropping fast.
It was getting, it was getting.

540
00:37:40,400 --> 00:37:42,400
It was cold, but it was getting
much colder.

541
00:37:42,680 --> 00:37:47,400
Yes, 100% agree.
And so I now have this strong

542
00:37:47,400 --> 00:37:52,000
desire to get into my vehicle
and that would require me to get

543
00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:58,440
down on the ground, specifically
on my back to shimmy part of the

544
00:37:58,440 --> 00:38:03,960
way underneath the pickup truck
bed, look up to where the key is

545
00:38:03,960 --> 00:38:08,280
bolted, and then reach up and
unbolt the key.

546
00:38:10,720 --> 00:38:16,920
And I couldn't do that, so I
asked you, can you get the key

547
00:38:16,920 --> 00:38:20,040
for me?
Do you remember this part of it?

548
00:38:21,560 --> 00:38:24,560
OK, you tell us what happened
from there and I'll tell my

549
00:38:24,560 --> 00:38:29,520
version too, all right?
So I don't, you know, I'm not a

550
00:38:29,520 --> 00:38:33,960
climber, you know, I, you know,
have never been, you know, I've

551
00:38:33,960 --> 00:38:35,560
never done any of that sort of
thing.

552
00:38:36,160 --> 00:38:42,520
But I had it in mind that that
people always climb in pairs,

553
00:38:42,960 --> 00:38:48,760
that you always have a climbing
buddy and that you don't go into

554
00:38:48,760 --> 00:38:51,800
the Backcountry alone climbing.
That's, it's just what I that,

555
00:38:51,800 --> 00:38:54,000
that was my free conception.
That's what I had in mind.

556
00:38:55,400 --> 00:38:59,800
And so as I was, you know, and I
did, you know, ask you, I think

557
00:38:59,800 --> 00:39:03,040
the second or maybe third time I
asked you what happened to you,

558
00:39:03,320 --> 00:39:05,520
I understood that you were
saying that you were in an

559
00:39:05,520 --> 00:39:10,920
avalanche and but it was very
difficult to understand what you

560
00:39:10,920 --> 00:39:15,400
were saying.
So when I saw you, I immediately

561
00:39:15,400 --> 00:39:18,240
started going into lucidity
checks.

562
00:39:18,280 --> 00:39:23,920
I was trying to figure out, you
know, how lucid you were.

563
00:39:24,400 --> 00:39:26,520
And so I started asking you
questions.

564
00:39:26,520 --> 00:39:29,320
And the first question I was
asking is where's your partner?

565
00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:33,080
Where's your climbing partner?
And you?

566
00:39:33,200 --> 00:39:38,440
And you'd say, oh, go and and
I'm like, and I'm like, that's

567
00:39:38,440 --> 00:39:40,160
great.
Do you know what day today is?

568
00:39:40,440 --> 00:39:43,920
And, you know, so I just kept on
trying and I was probably just

569
00:39:43,920 --> 00:39:47,520
annoying the piss out of you
even more.

570
00:39:47,680 --> 00:39:51,440
But I kept on trying to, you
know, to go through these, you

571
00:39:51,440 --> 00:39:56,880
know, these checks for head
injury and, you know, and then I

572
00:39:56,880 --> 00:39:59,000
would come back to it.
So, you know, to, you know, do

573
00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:02,720
you know what day today is?
Where's your partner?

574
00:40:04,520 --> 00:40:08,720
How did you get up here?
What's the name of the person

575
00:40:08,720 --> 00:40:11,440
that you came up here with?
You know, and you know, that's

576
00:40:11,440 --> 00:40:14,480
what I, you know, kept doing it
because I was convinced that

577
00:40:14,480 --> 00:40:19,200
there was somebody else still
out there and that it and it's

578
00:40:19,200 --> 00:40:24,480
getting dark and you know, and
you know, so and that, you know,

579
00:40:27,920 --> 00:40:29,920
I look at that.
If that was your leg instead of

580
00:40:29,920 --> 00:40:33,080
your head, you would have never,
you know, you we would have been

581
00:40:33,080 --> 00:40:35,520
dead there.
There's no way you could have

582
00:40:35,520 --> 00:40:38,200
gotten out of where you got out
of.

583
00:40:39,560 --> 00:40:43,240
I also look at that you
absolutely, you know, had the

584
00:40:43,320 --> 00:40:47,080
the perseverance and the
wherewithal to that you saved

585
00:40:47,080 --> 00:40:51,800
your your own life.
I gave you a ride is is what it

586
00:40:51,880 --> 00:40:58,200
what it came down to is amazing.
What you were able to do on that

587
00:40:58,200 --> 00:41:02,880
day in the condition that you
were in is, you know, I look at

588
00:41:02,880 --> 00:41:05,480
that as being probably the
biggest miracle.

589
00:41:07,320 --> 00:41:11,600
But so I, you know, I kept
peppering you with these

590
00:41:11,600 --> 00:41:14,280
questions and trying to
determine these things.

591
00:41:14,280 --> 00:41:19,320
So you talked about the key.
I don't know how long you had

592
00:41:19,320 --> 00:41:22,640
been out there or exactly what
your condition is, but my, my

593
00:41:22,640 --> 00:41:27,880
sense was, is that your fingers
were pretty cold and that

594
00:41:27,920 --> 00:41:32,880
you're, that you, you didn't
really have the dexterity to, to

595
00:41:32,880 --> 00:41:34,760
do much with your hands.
Is that?

596
00:41:35,200 --> 00:41:38,600
Do you think that's true?
I remember it slightly

597
00:41:38,600 --> 00:41:41,680
differently in that I just
simply didn't feel like I had

598
00:41:41,680 --> 00:41:49,280
the strength to get back up.
And that I also kind of felt as

599
00:41:49,280 --> 00:41:54,120
if I, I knew that I wasn't going
to have, I'll say the general

600
00:41:54,120 --> 00:41:58,040
dexterity, not even that fine
motor control of my fingers, but

601
00:41:58,040 --> 00:42:02,400
just the general, general
dexterity do get down, get all

602
00:42:02,400 --> 00:42:07,520
the way down and then shimmy
under a little bit to then be

603
00:42:07,520 --> 00:42:11,400
able to look up.
And so I remember it being very

604
00:42:11,400 --> 00:42:15,720
humbling because I, now that you
talk about asking me questions

605
00:42:15,720 --> 00:42:18,120
about others, I do remember
that.

606
00:42:18,720 --> 00:42:24,960
And, and I, I was super humbling
because I'm thinking to myself,

607
00:42:25,520 --> 00:42:28,480
get back to the car, get back to
the car, get back to the car.

608
00:42:28,480 --> 00:42:32,680
Well, I'm like, here I am back
at the car and I can't get the

609
00:42:32,680 --> 00:42:36,200
key.
I'm like this, like this doesn't

610
00:42:36,200 --> 00:42:37,760
compute, like I can't get the
key.

611
00:42:37,760 --> 00:42:39,520
Well, at least he's here, you
know what I mean?

612
00:42:41,240 --> 00:42:42,840
So.
Then I remember asking.

613
00:42:42,840 --> 00:42:45,680
You to get the key and you you
keep going basically.

614
00:42:46,640 --> 00:42:52,520
Yeah, so, so I did get the key,
you know, after, you know, after

615
00:42:54,040 --> 00:42:56,040
really annoying you.
I did get the key.

616
00:42:56,640 --> 00:43:00,960
I opened your truck and I looked
through it and I didn't see what

617
00:43:00,960 --> 00:43:03,240
looked to me like 2 people's
gear.

618
00:43:03,680 --> 00:43:06,320
You know, it looked like there
was only a single person gear.

619
00:43:07,960 --> 00:43:11,520
There was an extra jacket, like
a dry extra jacket in the car,

620
00:43:11,680 --> 00:43:14,200
but it just didn't look like
there was more than one person's

621
00:43:14,200 --> 00:43:18,000
stuff in there.
You know, Tacomas are not

622
00:43:18,000 --> 00:43:22,600
particularly big vehicles and so
you know they get pretty crowded

623
00:43:22,600 --> 00:43:24,960
pretty quick when you put a
couple of people's stuff in it.

624
00:43:25,800 --> 00:43:28,680
And so I got a lot more
comfortable and looking through

625
00:43:28,680 --> 00:43:32,800
your truck that you truly were
by yourself, that it was, you

626
00:43:32,800 --> 00:43:34,320
know, that that was really the
case.

627
00:43:35,320 --> 00:43:42,640
But you know, I, I didn't know,
you know, what information I was

628
00:43:42,640 --> 00:43:48,280
getting from you was reliable
and, and, and so you know,

629
00:43:49,320 --> 00:43:51,960
anyway, so you know, it was
still in the back of my mind,

630
00:43:51,960 --> 00:43:55,080
but I felt more comfortable
that, that likely what you're

631
00:43:55,080 --> 00:43:59,760
saying was accurate.
And I, you asked me to get a

632
00:43:59,760 --> 00:44:02,280
jacket, dry jacket out of the
truck.

633
00:44:02,560 --> 00:44:10,960
And I, I took the, so the, the
mound of, of goo, frozen

634
00:44:11,280 --> 00:44:15,840
gelatinous goo on your jacket
made it a little difficult to

635
00:44:15,840 --> 00:44:21,320
get the zipper down.
And so I got through that, got

636
00:44:21,320 --> 00:44:24,120
your jacket off and gave you
the, the dry one.

637
00:44:25,480 --> 00:44:32,120
And then the both of our trucks
are, are extra cab.

638
00:44:32,320 --> 00:44:37,440
So they, the the back window is
a small window, you know, about

639
00:44:37,440 --> 00:44:42,280
a foot plus wide and it's tinted
really dark.

640
00:44:43,440 --> 00:44:51,120
It makes a really good mirror.
And so we're taking your jacket

641
00:44:51,120 --> 00:44:55,520
off and I think I think it had a
hood.

642
00:44:55,960 --> 00:44:58,800
It, there was something covering
your, you know, the top of your

643
00:44:58,800 --> 00:44:59,800
head.
Yeah.

644
00:45:00,480 --> 00:45:04,200
And, and so, you know, I, I
remember, you know, kind of

645
00:45:04,200 --> 00:45:07,800
taking that off.
And at that point, you looked at

646
00:45:07,800 --> 00:45:14,800
the window.
And so there was a, a, a pretty

647
00:45:14,800 --> 00:45:21,360
wide laceration, you know,
where, you know, you could, you

648
00:45:21,360 --> 00:45:24,920
know, the skin was open.
I didn't say about this much,

649
00:45:25,960 --> 00:45:29,760
OK.
And there was like a yeah, I'd

650
00:45:29,760 --> 00:45:33,440
say close to three.
It was big.

651
00:45:35,080 --> 00:45:41,480
And there was in the front there
was like a triangle shaped, you

652
00:45:41,480 --> 00:45:45,920
know, messed up skin thing.
And then there was this split

653
00:45:45,920 --> 00:45:47,360
that went all the way over the
back.

654
00:45:48,200 --> 00:45:56,560
And yeah, I was looking at skull
really all that good at bloody

655
00:45:56,600 --> 00:45:59,800
guts and that sort of thing.
It's not something I, you know,

656
00:45:59,840 --> 00:46:04,720
that I, I, you know, it's not my
first choice of things to do or,

657
00:46:04,760 --> 00:46:07,600
you know, like being a paramedic
would not be a career choice

658
00:46:07,600 --> 00:46:12,280
that I would ever do.
So anyway, so you look in the

659
00:46:12,280 --> 00:46:16,360
mirror or in the, you know, in
that window and I saw you kind

660
00:46:16,360 --> 00:46:21,200
of do the, you know, like the,
you know, and.

661
00:46:21,240 --> 00:46:23,800
Double take essentially.
Yeah, exactly.

662
00:46:23,800 --> 00:46:26,240
And yeah, And I and I just kind
of turned your shoulders.

663
00:46:26,240 --> 00:46:27,520
I'm like, you don't want to look
at that.

664
00:46:29,360 --> 00:46:36,240
And and then, you know, and
then, and then I went on what

665
00:46:36,240 --> 00:46:45,520
seemed like a really long
campaign to get you to agree to

666
00:46:45,520 --> 00:46:49,840
get into my truck because you
were hell bent on driving

667
00:46:49,840 --> 00:46:52,880
yourself.
And I thought that that was just

668
00:46:52,880 --> 00:46:56,640
not a good idea at all.
Yeah, yes.

669
00:46:56,640 --> 00:47:02,320
So everything that Steve is
describing is correct.

670
00:47:02,360 --> 00:47:10,720
I was 100% set on driving myself
to the hospital and that's why I

671
00:47:10,720 --> 00:47:16,040
was explaining for all of us
that I was anchored to this plan

672
00:47:16,040 --> 00:47:19,320
of get to the truck.
And just like before, once you

673
00:47:19,320 --> 00:47:22,280
get to the car, you drive
yourself to the hospital.

674
00:47:22,720 --> 00:47:28,600
And I have very little awareness
of how poorly I am doing other

675
00:47:28,600 --> 00:47:32,320
than, you know, the little bit
that I've kind of already

676
00:47:32,320 --> 00:47:34,960
described.
So I want to stay here for a

677
00:47:34,960 --> 00:47:39,400
minute though, because I don't
have any recollection of looking

678
00:47:39,400 --> 00:47:42,960
in the window and I really
appreciate you describing all of

679
00:47:42,960 --> 00:47:46,720
that.
But I do have distinct

680
00:47:46,720 --> 00:47:50,920
recollection of not only not
being able to get the key and

681
00:47:50,920 --> 00:47:55,680
asking you to do it, but then
when we had the key and the car

682
00:47:55,680 --> 00:48:00,320
was open because of that, the
the dry jacket that was in there

683
00:48:00,320 --> 00:48:05,280
was my heavy, thick feathered
friends down jacket.

684
00:48:05,600 --> 00:48:09,080
Because as we both mentioned,
right, it is, it is now beyond

685
00:48:09,080 --> 00:48:11,920
chilly.
It is legitimately cold where we

686
00:48:11,920 --> 00:48:12,600
are.
OK.

687
00:48:12,960 --> 00:48:17,560
And I am no longer walking at
this point.

688
00:48:17,560 --> 00:48:20,760
So I'm cooling down.
You've never really even warmed

689
00:48:20,760 --> 00:48:21,240
up.
You don't.

690
00:48:21,240 --> 00:48:25,480
I mean, but like my focus is on
put my heavy down jacket on to

691
00:48:25,480 --> 00:48:31,800
warm up.
And like you described, I

692
00:48:31,800 --> 00:48:36,560
couldn't get the zipper down.
And that was the second thing

693
00:48:36,560 --> 00:48:44,440
for me that indicated I don't
have full capacity here because

694
00:48:45,080 --> 00:48:47,640
getting the key off of the
pickup truck was something that

695
00:48:47,640 --> 00:48:53,760
I've done hundreds of times and
zipping a jacket down is

696
00:48:53,760 --> 00:48:58,560
something that I had done
countless times in 19 years of

697
00:48:58,560 --> 00:49:02,000
life.
So the fact that I'm unzipping

698
00:49:02,000 --> 00:49:07,720
it and I got I think I remember
it was like roughly mid chest

699
00:49:08,200 --> 00:49:11,840
and it like it wasn't like it
was barely dead or mostly down,

700
00:49:12,080 --> 00:49:16,160
you know, I mean like it was it
was stuck very high up.

701
00:49:16,680 --> 00:49:21,680
And I remember having to ask you
for help to get my jacket off.

702
00:49:22,120 --> 00:49:26,600
And that was super humbling for
me because here I am thinking

703
00:49:27,520 --> 00:49:31,840
I'm fine and then I can't even
get my key and I can't even get

704
00:49:31,840 --> 00:49:35,040
my jacket off because to your
point, and I knew, I knew it was

705
00:49:35,040 --> 00:49:36,720
stuck.
I knew it was stuck in junk.

706
00:49:37,040 --> 00:49:40,360
I don't know, like the I don't
recall the fullest extent of

707
00:49:40,360 --> 00:49:42,680
that junk.
But for everybody that's that's

708
00:49:42,680 --> 00:49:49,200
listening and imagining this,
imagine a regular rain shell or

709
00:49:49,200 --> 00:49:52,280
ski jacket.
This was an Arcterex Beta AR.

710
00:49:52,280 --> 00:49:55,880
It was in royal blue.
And like Steve described, I had

711
00:49:55,880 --> 00:50:01,800
my hood up and those have
somewhat tight waterproof

712
00:50:01,800 --> 00:50:04,680
zippers on them.
Arctarex was the leader in that

713
00:50:04,680 --> 00:50:08,400
at the time, and it's still a
zipper.

714
00:50:09,240 --> 00:50:11,200
And it's not that hard to get a
zipper down.

715
00:50:11,960 --> 00:50:17,560
And here we have a scenario
where a grown adult can't get

716
00:50:17,560 --> 00:50:21,600
their zipper down because it is
stuck in the coagulated and

717
00:50:21,600 --> 00:50:28,280
frozen junk of blood and other
bodily fluids on my jacket.

718
00:50:29,000 --> 00:50:32,840
And so I remember you basically
broke the jacket, broke the

719
00:50:32,840 --> 00:50:36,920
zipper in order to get the whole
thing open.

720
00:50:37,040 --> 00:50:38,560
Do you remember it's
differently?

721
00:50:41,120 --> 00:50:45,880
No, I, I, I knew that my, my
fingers were in SUS that I

722
00:50:45,880 --> 00:50:50,800
wasn't entirely pleaded about
and I just needed to get that

723
00:50:50,800 --> 00:50:54,640
jacket off.
And, and so I, I don't think I

724
00:50:54,640 --> 00:50:56,840
was really all that concerned
about the jacket.

725
00:50:56,840 --> 00:51:01,120
I I'm I'm sorry if I broke it.
Yeah, same.

726
00:51:01,120 --> 00:51:03,280
I didn't mean to cut you off.
Keep going.

727
00:51:03,280 --> 00:51:07,040
No.
So, yeah, so that was that was

728
00:51:07,080 --> 00:51:08,800
about it.
I mean it, you know, Yeah, it

729
00:51:08,800 --> 00:51:12,840
was, you know, it was frozen,
you know, stuff, it's, it's

730
00:51:12,840 --> 00:51:14,440
stuck.
You know, it was really

731
00:51:14,440 --> 00:51:18,360
difficult to get off.
And so we got that off.

732
00:51:18,360 --> 00:51:21,240
We got the, the warm jacket.
And I was, you know, saying,

733
00:51:21,240 --> 00:51:24,640
hey, you know, I'd like you to
get in my truck and, you know,

734
00:51:24,640 --> 00:51:27,360
I'm going to drive you down.
And you're like, no, I can't

735
00:51:27,360 --> 00:51:28,920
leave my truck here.
And I'm like, yeah, you're going

736
00:51:28,920 --> 00:51:35,520
to leave your truck here.
And and so and, you know, you're

737
00:51:35,520 --> 00:51:39,240
really having none of it.
And it was, you know, sun's

738
00:51:39,240 --> 00:51:43,040
going down, you know, I'm like,
you know, times of the essence

739
00:51:43,040 --> 00:51:48,080
here, you know, and and you
know, so I was trying to be, you

740
00:51:48,080 --> 00:51:51,040
know, polite and, you know, yet
firm.

741
00:51:51,880 --> 00:51:54,560
Just say, you know, you're not
driving, you're you're coming

742
00:51:54,560 --> 00:51:57,120
with me, you know, you get in
the truck.

743
00:51:58,080 --> 00:52:01,720
And I don't know that that, but
that was that was a conversation

744
00:52:02,080 --> 00:52:04,120
that that that took a little bit
of doing.

745
00:52:05,040 --> 00:52:07,520
Yeah, we definitely had a
conversation.

746
00:52:07,520 --> 00:52:09,920
And I remember telling you
multiple times like, I'm good,

747
00:52:10,000 --> 00:52:12,160
I'm in the truck, thanks for
your help, I'm good.

748
00:52:12,880 --> 00:52:15,600
You probably could understand
only half of that or less than

749
00:52:15,600 --> 00:52:19,880
that because my speech was so
garbled, which we'll explain

750
00:52:19,880 --> 00:52:22,160
here in a little bit.
Excuse me.

751
00:52:22,160 --> 00:52:28,440
But eventually I relented and I
remember you saying, come, come

752
00:52:28,440 --> 00:52:31,400
over to my truck.
I'm like, OK, so I kind of like,

753
00:52:31,480 --> 00:52:34,200
you know, I think we locked my
truck up, went over to your

754
00:52:34,200 --> 00:52:36,720
truck and I'll let you take it
from here.

755
00:52:36,720 --> 00:52:37,920
But I have some.
Memories.

756
00:52:37,920 --> 00:52:39,960
It'll be interesting to see how
they all match up.

757
00:52:40,720 --> 00:52:44,120
Well, so before we lock your
truck up, you know, I was still,

758
00:52:44,440 --> 00:52:47,720
you know, concerned about that.
You know, there's a possibility

759
00:52:47,720 --> 00:52:52,320
that there's another person.
And also I, I was concerned

760
00:52:52,320 --> 00:52:57,040
about if there's a vehicle and,
you know, abandoned and

761
00:52:57,040 --> 00:53:00,840
trailhead that that's the sort
of thing that sparks a rescue

762
00:53:00,920 --> 00:53:03,760
effort.
You know, that they, I didn't

763
00:53:03,760 --> 00:53:09,040
know how often anyone goes up
there or you know what?

764
00:53:09,040 --> 00:53:12,160
But you know, I kind of figured
there's, you know, there's Park

765
00:53:12,160 --> 00:53:14,840
Rangers or there's somebody,
somebody's got to do something.

766
00:53:15,560 --> 00:53:21,080
And so I had a Sharpie and a
piece of paper and I wrote a

767
00:53:21,080 --> 00:53:23,480
note and I stuck it in the
windshield of the truck.

768
00:53:23,720 --> 00:53:26,480
And I think it just said
something like, you know, you

769
00:53:26,480 --> 00:53:31,360
know my name and, you know, you
know, found one person, claimed

770
00:53:31,360 --> 00:53:34,840
he was alone, injured in an
avalanche On this date.

771
00:53:34,840 --> 00:53:37,520
We left it this time.
Here's my phone number.

772
00:53:37,560 --> 00:53:40,080
And I stuck it in the windshield
and shut your truck.

773
00:53:41,920 --> 00:53:47,840
And and so, you know, did that.
And then I went over to my truck

774
00:53:49,080 --> 00:53:54,880
and, you know, assessing what I
had in the truck, you know, I

775
00:53:54,880 --> 00:53:59,280
mean, with the, you know, this
laceration that I saw and, you

776
00:53:59,280 --> 00:54:02,920
know, and, and you know, I, I
mean, your face was just swollen

777
00:54:02,920 --> 00:54:04,600
and deformed in all kinds of
ways.

778
00:54:04,880 --> 00:54:08,960
I'm thinking, you know, there's
a solid chance that you've got,

779
00:54:09,320 --> 00:54:12,440
you know, definitely a head
injury, probably a neck injury.

780
00:54:13,600 --> 00:54:16,560
And so, yeah.
And so I, I was trying to figure

781
00:54:16,560 --> 00:54:20,680
out how do I stabilize your
cease spine for the ride, which

782
00:54:20,680 --> 00:54:22,240
I know is going to be very
bumpy.

783
00:54:23,520 --> 00:54:30,160
And so I, and so at the time I
swam a lot.

784
00:54:30,360 --> 00:54:34,800
And so I had swim towels in my
truck, probably two or three of

785
00:54:34,800 --> 00:54:37,920
them.
And they're, they're big towels.

786
00:54:38,560 --> 00:54:44,080
So I rolled one up and, and
tried to put it around your neck

787
00:54:44,320 --> 00:54:48,800
to, to stabilize your, you know,
you know, you know, wrapped it

788
00:54:48,800 --> 00:54:50,880
and, you know, kind of wrapped
it around trying to keep your

789
00:54:50,880 --> 00:54:54,440
head from bobbling all around.
And then I took the other one

790
00:54:54,440 --> 00:54:58,480
and wrapped it around your head
to try to catch, you know, catch

791
00:54:58,480 --> 00:55:03,840
the blood And, and then, and
then I, I got you in the

792
00:55:03,840 --> 00:55:08,120
passenger seat, buckled you up
and it's time to go.

793
00:55:09,200 --> 00:55:12,960
Yeah, All right, Well, before we
leave the parking lot, let me

794
00:55:12,960 --> 00:55:18,760
just add a, a tiny bit to this.
So Steve says to me again, this

795
00:55:18,760 --> 00:55:22,120
is how I remember it.
Steve says to me, OK, I've I've

796
00:55:22,120 --> 00:55:23,800
now relented.
I'm going to ride with.

797
00:55:23,800 --> 00:55:25,960
Steve.
Some don't know Steve's name at

798
00:55:25,960 --> 00:55:29,360
this point, so this is just a.
Complete random stranger, but

799
00:55:29,360 --> 00:55:31,960
I'm desperate and he says OK
come over to my truck.

800
00:55:32,280 --> 00:55:35,880
So he comes over, I'm, I'm like
at this point probably shuffling

801
00:55:35,880 --> 00:55:41,320
over to your truck.
And I remember seeing you pull a

802
00:55:41,440 --> 00:55:45,920
towel out of your truck just
like you had described.

803
00:55:46,760 --> 00:55:50,840
And I thought to myself, that is
so odd.

804
00:55:51,520 --> 00:55:53,600
Who?
Has a towel.

805
00:55:53,720 --> 00:55:56,640
In their truck.
Like who keeps a?

806
00:55:56,640 --> 00:55:58,880
Towel in their truck.
That's literally.

807
00:55:58,880 --> 00:56:00,080
What?
I thought you know what I mean.

808
00:56:01,680 --> 00:56:02,880
Swimmers Later.
Later.

809
00:56:02,880 --> 00:56:06,400
To find out exactly why that was
the case.

810
00:56:06,760 --> 00:56:10,320
But I distinctly remember
thinking, man this is so odd

811
00:56:10,360 --> 00:56:13,480
that this guy has a.
Towel and a full.

812
00:56:13,480 --> 00:56:16,760
Size towel at that.
I like remember all of that.

813
00:56:16,760 --> 00:56:20,240
You know, it was just so odd the
certain things and yeah, so like

814
00:56:20,240 --> 00:56:22,160
I didn't remember that the the
two.

815
00:56:23,240 --> 00:56:29,240
And then, yeah, you put me in
the car and and then we set off

816
00:56:29,800 --> 00:56:36,280
and my recollection is I lost
consciousness pretty quickly.

817
00:56:37,600 --> 00:56:39,160
That's accurate.
You take it from here.

818
00:56:41,120 --> 00:56:46,520
Yeah.
So you know, let me reiterate,

819
00:56:46,760 --> 00:56:50,240
you know, this is a person that
I I cannot tell any.

820
00:56:50,360 --> 00:56:54,440
I have no idea how old he is.
I have no idea.

821
00:56:54,840 --> 00:57:00,240
I mean, even what the, you know,
even his rates, I have no idea

822
00:57:00,240 --> 00:57:04,560
what I'm looking at from, from
his head because it's swollen,

823
00:57:04,760 --> 00:57:08,400
distorted and obviously gravely
injured.

824
00:57:10,160 --> 00:57:16,040
So we get in the truck and, you
know, and I set out and I just

825
00:57:16,080 --> 00:57:21,320
was trying to keep you talking
and that I don't know if this

826
00:57:21,320 --> 00:57:25,760
is, you know, accurate or just
TV, but it's like, you know, I

827
00:57:25,760 --> 00:57:28,440
was just trying to keep you
conscious.

828
00:57:28,680 --> 00:57:32,040
All right, so this was, you
know, November of 2000.

829
00:57:32,040 --> 00:57:39,680
I did have a cell phone and it
was, there was no cell service

830
00:57:39,840 --> 00:57:47,680
at that parking lot at all.
And so I took the phone out and,

831
00:57:47,680 --> 00:57:51,000
you know, there's nothing, you
know, tried to call 911 the the

832
00:57:51,000 --> 00:57:55,360
phone was useless.
And so, you know, so we start

833
00:57:55,680 --> 00:58:00,400
down the road and I'm trying to,
you know, keep you talking, keep

834
00:58:00,400 --> 00:58:03,640
you with me.
And I don't think we got, you

835
00:58:03,640 --> 00:58:09,240
know, out of the parking lot and
you were out and, you know, and,

836
00:58:09,320 --> 00:58:15,440
and so, you know, and I, I don't
know if that was just the, you

837
00:58:15,440 --> 00:58:20,720
know, the, the just pure
adrenaline had gotten you that

838
00:58:20,720 --> 00:58:26,120
far or, or what the situation
was, but, but you were

839
00:58:26,120 --> 00:58:31,120
definitely unconscious
immediately upon setting out to

840
00:58:31,120 --> 00:58:36,800
go back down the hill.
And so at this point, you know,

841
00:58:36,800 --> 00:58:39,440
I'm just like, he's dead.
He's dead.

842
00:58:39,640 --> 00:58:42,920
He's dead in my truck.
And.

843
00:58:44,040 --> 00:58:49,280
And, and so, you know, I, you
know, so I'm driving down this

844
00:58:49,280 --> 00:58:55,640
hill, you know, as quickly and,
but safely as I can and trying

845
00:58:55,640 --> 00:58:59,440
to not jostle 'cause, you know,
I, you know, I, you know, from

846
00:58:59,440 --> 00:59:03,520
the limited, you know, week long
training I've had in first aid.

847
00:59:04,320 --> 00:59:07,960
And, you know, probably 3 hours
of, of the, you know, spine

848
00:59:07,960 --> 00:59:09,680
stuff that we actually talked
about.

849
00:59:10,000 --> 00:59:12,200
I'm like, you know, as, you
know, it's like, you know, this,

850
00:59:12,760 --> 00:59:16,480
you know, you know, there's a
high probability that, that,

851
00:59:16,640 --> 00:59:20,360
that you've got a neck injury or
some kind of spinal problem.

852
00:59:20,760 --> 00:59:23,440
And so I was trying to be
gentle, trying to, you know, be

853
00:59:23,440 --> 00:59:27,520
careful.
And I have no idea how long it

854
00:59:27,520 --> 00:59:31,720
took to crab, you know, down
that, that road.

855
00:59:33,200 --> 00:59:39,800
When I got to, back down to
I-70, there was still no cell

856
00:59:39,800 --> 00:59:43,720
service.
And I was trying to figure out,

857
00:59:44,920 --> 00:59:49,080
do I go to Denver or do I go to
Frisco?

858
00:59:50,160 --> 00:59:53,440
Because I had no idea where
there was a hospital, but I, I,

859
00:59:53,600 --> 00:59:57,000
but I knew that there was a
Medical Center in Frisco because

860
00:59:57,400 --> 01:00:00,720
I knew somebody that had gone
there when they got hurt skiing.

861
01:00:01,040 --> 01:00:03,440
And they, they told me that they
went to a Medical Center in, in

862
01:00:03,440 --> 01:00:05,120
Frisco.
So I knew there was one there.

863
01:00:06,000 --> 01:00:09,080
And that's much, much closer
than going to Denver.

864
01:00:09,080 --> 01:00:14,880
So I decided to go that way.
And so, you know, so I set out

865
01:00:15,240 --> 01:00:21,640
going West and I don't know at
what point, but at some point I

866
01:00:21,640 --> 01:00:26,360
got enough signal and I made
the, you know, called 911.

867
01:00:26,920 --> 01:00:30,800
To say I, you know, I have a
person that's been in an, an

868
01:00:30,800 --> 01:00:33,800
avalanche in my truck is
injured.

869
01:00:34,080 --> 01:00:35,920
Where do I go?
What do I do?

870
01:00:36,640 --> 01:00:39,680
And at this point, you know, I'm
convinced that you're either

871
01:00:39,680 --> 01:00:43,920
dead already or soon dying in my
truck.

872
01:00:45,400 --> 01:00:50,600
And so, so they say, well, tell
us where you are.

873
01:00:50,600 --> 01:00:54,640
We'll send an ambulance.
And I, I, I, I remember just

874
01:00:54,640 --> 01:00:58,160
saying I'm going 90 miles an
hour in the right direction.

875
01:00:58,160 --> 01:01:01,440
There's no way you can get here
faster than what I'm doing.

876
01:01:03,400 --> 01:01:08,320
And so they stayed on the phone
with me the, you know, the whole

877
01:01:08,320 --> 01:01:12,000
way in.
And we're directing me, telling

878
01:01:12,000 --> 01:01:16,400
me where to go.
And when I say Medical Center, I

879
01:01:16,400 --> 01:01:20,560
mean like a like a really big
dentist office, but with a

880
01:01:20,560 --> 01:01:24,680
little and something on it.
I mean, this is not a large

881
01:01:24,680 --> 01:01:28,560
facility.
It's not like a hospital, but I

882
01:01:28,600 --> 01:01:33,080
you know, but it says emergency
and, and you know, so I come in

883
01:01:33,080 --> 01:01:41,280
there and my adrenaline was
pretty high at that moment and

884
01:01:42,200 --> 01:01:47,320
the parking lot was really icy.
And I came into that parking lot

885
01:01:48,200 --> 01:01:55,880
really hot and damn near trashed
into a couple of cars sliding

886
01:01:55,880 --> 01:02:01,720
into that parking lot.
You know, I get up to the, you

887
01:02:01,720 --> 01:02:04,040
know, to the, where the
emergency thing is.

888
01:02:04,040 --> 01:02:07,120
And there's not like, you know,
you're not thinking like, you

889
01:02:07,120 --> 01:02:10,040
know, the awning with the, you
know, where you go up and, you

890
01:02:10,040 --> 01:02:14,720
know, you know, it's just like,
you know, a door in the side of

891
01:02:14,720 --> 01:02:19,880
a building.
And so I say, OK, I'm here.

892
01:02:20,880 --> 01:02:25,480
And I hang up the phone and I
get out of the truck and I run

893
01:02:25,480 --> 01:02:30,840
up to this door and I open it.
And there's a nurses look what

894
01:02:30,840 --> 01:02:32,440
looks like a nurse station, you
know?

895
01:02:32,440 --> 01:02:35,360
And there's, you know, some
medical people around, you know,

896
01:02:35,360 --> 01:02:39,520
in this little thing.
And so I walk in, you know, and,

897
01:02:39,560 --> 01:02:43,920
you know, I sling the door open.
I walk in and I'm like here and.

898
01:02:47,920 --> 01:02:51,120
Expecting them to know this
because you just hung up with

899
01:02:51,120 --> 01:02:54,440
911, Yeah.
And so in my mind, I was talking

900
01:02:54,440 --> 01:02:57,720
to the person at that counter,
which was not true.

901
01:03:00,320 --> 01:03:04,520
And the people sitting there had
no idea that I was coming.

902
01:03:04,520 --> 01:03:07,920
And they're looking at me like
I'm the crazy person, you know,

903
01:03:08,520 --> 01:03:13,120
announcing myself that I'm here.
And so I, you know, I see the

904
01:03:13,120 --> 01:03:16,520
looks on their faces that they
have no idea what I'm talking

905
01:03:16,520 --> 01:03:20,040
about.
And, and so I'm like for neck

906
01:03:20,160 --> 01:03:21,520
brace outside now.
Wow.

907
01:03:24,680 --> 01:03:33,080
And, and I ran back out to the
truck and so they came out and,

908
01:03:33,720 --> 01:03:36,520
you know, spent some time, you
know, they put you in a in AC

909
01:03:36,600 --> 01:03:43,000
collar and, you know, packing.
They, they packaged you up in

910
01:03:43,000 --> 01:03:48,000
the seat before they moved you
and, and then and then brought

911
01:03:48,000 --> 01:03:52,400
you out to put you on a on a
backboard, strapped you down and

912
01:03:52,400 --> 01:03:58,920
then took you out.
And then so at this point the,

913
01:03:59,080 --> 01:04:01,720
you know, both doors are open of
the truck.

914
01:04:01,920 --> 01:04:05,880
The people are going into the
into the Medical Center and I'm

915
01:04:05,880 --> 01:04:09,960
just standing in the parking lot
hyperventilating to it's like

916
01:04:09,960 --> 01:04:14,880
the the engine being floored
with the clutch in like I just,

917
01:04:14,920 --> 01:04:19,600
you know, there's all this, you
know, revving and nowhere to put

918
01:04:19,600 --> 01:04:21,400
that energy.
Didn't know what to you know,

919
01:04:21,680 --> 01:04:24,920
And so, you know, so I'm just
kind of standing there for a

920
01:04:24,920 --> 01:04:27,160
minute trying to like, what now?
What do I do?

921
01:04:27,160 --> 01:04:29,760
What will you know, And and
then, you know, so I'm like,

922
01:04:29,760 --> 01:04:32,600
well, I, you know, and, you
know, silly, but I mean, I was

923
01:04:32,600 --> 01:04:35,560
just so focused on this, you
know, this event, this, you

924
01:04:35,560 --> 01:04:38,200
know, this thing.
I'm like, well, I guess so I

925
01:04:38,200 --> 01:04:43,640
guess I'll go home.
And so, so I went around and,

926
01:04:45,480 --> 01:04:51,360
and then I, I look in the truck,
the passenger seat and there is

927
01:04:51,360 --> 01:04:57,360
a, a decent pool of blood and
other stuff that had, you know,

928
01:04:57,360 --> 01:05:00,600
they're like, there's a big
blood smear, you know, 'cause

929
01:05:00,640 --> 01:05:05,400
you bled through the towel and,
you know, so there was smeared

930
01:05:05,400 --> 01:05:11,080
blood on the window and then
that had dripped down on the

931
01:05:11,080 --> 01:05:13,720
door.
And then there was a pool, you

932
01:05:13,720 --> 01:05:16,560
know, like on the door jamb, you
know, between the seat and the

933
01:05:16,560 --> 01:05:20,640
door jamb and then the seat belt
and, you know, the set it, there

934
01:05:20,640 --> 01:05:27,280
was a lot of blood.
And so I went back in and, and

935
01:05:27,280 --> 01:05:30,320
to the, to the thing and, and I
think I thought they were going

936
01:05:30,320 --> 01:05:35,840
to come out and clean my truck
out and they were like, here's

937
01:05:35,840 --> 01:05:37,560
some gauze pads.
Go away.

938
01:05:38,920 --> 01:05:43,000
And so I went and took the gauze
pads and, you know, kind of mop

939
01:05:43,000 --> 01:05:45,120
some of this stuff up and I'm
like, the hell with it.

940
01:05:45,120 --> 01:05:47,000
I'll just take care of it when I
go home.

941
01:05:47,400 --> 01:05:51,400
And so I started driving down
I-70.

942
01:05:53,080 --> 01:05:57,040
You know, I haven't thought
about this for a very long time,

943
01:05:57,360 --> 01:06:02,080
you know, if ever.
But the there was just this

944
01:06:02,080 --> 01:06:09,400
feeling of, I don't want to call
it euphoria, but it was just

945
01:06:09,400 --> 01:06:12,760
this, you know, you know, I, I
don't know, I don't know what it

946
01:06:12,760 --> 01:06:14,720
was, but it, it was a positive
feeling.

947
01:06:15,920 --> 01:06:20,800
But it, but it was, it was just
other Ness of, you know, just

948
01:06:20,800 --> 01:06:26,920
what I was experiencing that
entire ride back down the hill.

949
01:06:27,840 --> 01:06:32,120
And yeah.
And then, you know, so I get

950
01:06:32,120 --> 01:06:35,800
back to, you know, the house
that I was staying in and went

951
01:06:35,800 --> 01:06:38,400
to go tell my my roommate, well,
you're not going to believe

952
01:06:38,400 --> 01:06:41,040
what's going to happen.
Yeah, yeah.

953
01:06:43,040 --> 01:06:47,440
And And so, yeah.
So that was, you know, that was,

954
01:06:47,440 --> 01:06:53,600
that was that, that situation.
And I'll let you, you know, say

955
01:06:53,600 --> 01:06:56,080
what?
You know what you know, because

956
01:06:56,080 --> 01:07:00,920
I don't know what happened after
that, but there was 1 funny

957
01:07:00,920 --> 01:07:04,880
little thing at the end of that.
Do you want me to say that now?

958
01:07:05,240 --> 01:07:10,680
Go right ahead.
All right, so, so I got back,

959
01:07:10,760 --> 01:07:14,520
you know, I, I don't know, I
mean, it probably took, you

960
01:07:14,520 --> 01:07:18,920
know, an hour plus to, you know,
do all that and then, you know,

961
01:07:19,160 --> 01:07:22,360
you know, going to Frisco and
then come back to Denver.

962
01:07:22,720 --> 01:07:28,680
You know, at this point, I had a
meeting scheduled with this

963
01:07:28,680 --> 01:07:33,320
woman that I'd met, that she was
renting a room and a house that

964
01:07:33,320 --> 01:07:36,400
she rented and I needed a place
to live.

965
01:07:36,480 --> 01:07:43,560
I was going to interview with
her to, you know, to rent A room

966
01:07:44,000 --> 01:07:49,600
in her house.
And, and, and so I, you know, I

967
01:07:49,600 --> 01:07:54,680
realized that I, I'm pretty late
that I needed to go immediately

968
01:07:55,320 --> 01:08:00,360
to go meet this woman.
And so, you know, so the house

969
01:08:00,400 --> 01:08:04,360
was with the 21st and Marion
just, you know, I kind of Uptown

970
01:08:04,440 --> 01:08:07,120
and by the old Medical Center
that was that was there.

971
01:08:08,360 --> 01:08:15,640
And so I, I go to the address
and I pull up and I parked about

972
01:08:15,640 --> 01:08:24,080
a house away because not about
blood all over the window.

973
01:08:26,760 --> 01:08:32,000
And, and, and so, so I, I walk
up to the house and her car was

974
01:08:32,000 --> 01:08:35,680
right in the front.
And so I walk up, knock on the

975
01:08:35,680 --> 01:08:40,520
door, and she says, I thought we
would go to this little cafe

976
01:08:40,520 --> 01:08:44,279
around the corner and, you know,
and you know, would you mind

977
01:08:44,279 --> 01:08:49,520
driving?
And, and I'm like, yeah.

978
01:08:49,920 --> 01:08:55,560
And I'm like, I'd have to
explain this later, but no, I

979
01:08:55,560 --> 01:08:59,200
don't want to drive.
And, you know, it just seems

980
01:08:59,200 --> 01:09:04,600
like welcome.
To that right.

981
01:09:05,319 --> 01:09:08,359
Yeah, exactly.
Sit in the bloody spot just like

982
01:09:08,359 --> 01:09:12,479
the last person, yeah.
That wouldn't have been good,

983
01:09:12,479 --> 01:09:14,640
that.
That probably, I probably

984
01:09:14,640 --> 01:09:20,240
wouldn't have gotten that room,
but anyway, but I I thought that

985
01:09:20,240 --> 01:09:23,479
that was kind of kind of a Sunny
Hearst meeting.

986
01:09:25,319 --> 01:09:29,560
You know, you show up with the
CSI Nightmare in your car.

987
01:09:30,160 --> 01:09:35,319
Right, right.
Yep, but little steam shampoo.

988
01:09:35,560 --> 01:09:38,040
Steam clean came right out.
I still own the truck.

989
01:09:38,880 --> 01:09:41,800
No way.
Wow.

990
01:09:42,319 --> 01:09:47,520
Yep, 240,000 miles.
Yeah, right on.

991
01:09:48,080 --> 01:09:55,080
So I, I have a recollection of
something at, at or during the

992
01:09:55,080 --> 01:09:58,240
drive.
So one of the last things I

993
01:09:58,240 --> 01:10:00,840
think I was saying before you
kind of began to describe what

994
01:10:00,840 --> 01:10:03,080
was.
Really happening since you were.

995
01:10:04,720 --> 01:10:09,520
Fully lucid and I was fully
unconscious was, you know,

996
01:10:09,520 --> 01:10:11,440
passing out.
I remember getting in the truck,

997
01:10:11,440 --> 01:10:17,880
being in the truck and I
remember coming to at one point

998
01:10:18,600 --> 01:10:27,480
and I remember asking you like,
where are we going now?

999
01:10:27,480 --> 01:10:30,320
I can't fully vouch for whether
or not this happened, but this

1000
01:10:30,320 --> 01:10:33,800
is sort of like my recollection.
And I think you said something

1001
01:10:33,800 --> 01:10:35,920
to the extent of like Frisco or
something.

1002
01:10:35,920 --> 01:10:37,240
And then I just passed out
again.

1003
01:10:38,120 --> 01:10:42,880
We get to Summit Medical Center
and I remember you saying to me,

1004
01:10:43,920 --> 01:10:49,400
don't go anywhere and.
I.

1005
01:10:49,400 --> 01:10:53,520
Remember having no energy to
respond.

1006
01:10:54,280 --> 01:11:00,160
But I also remember laughing
inside to myself because my

1007
01:11:00,160 --> 01:11:04,920
response was going to be.
I can't, you know.

1008
01:11:04,920 --> 01:11:07,240
Like, 'cause I was just
completely spent.

1009
01:11:08,280 --> 01:11:11,640
And so it it was funny to me
that that was said, but I

1010
01:11:11,640 --> 01:11:15,480
couldn't laugh or even respond.
Where do you think I'm going to

1011
01:11:15,480 --> 01:11:18,160
go?
Yeah, yeah, exactly.

1012
01:11:18,720 --> 01:11:25,920
And then I remember you getting
out and I think it was the the

1013
01:11:25,920 --> 01:11:31,160
blast of cold air basically that
probably brought me back to

1014
01:11:31,160 --> 01:11:34,960
consciousness for that brief
moment, which may or may not

1015
01:11:34,960 --> 01:11:38,520
have actually sort of triggered
you of saying like don't go

1016
01:11:38,520 --> 01:11:40,600
anywhere.
Maybe you didn't actually say

1017
01:11:40,600 --> 01:11:46,680
that, but I can distinctly
remember when or or that then

1018
01:11:46,840 --> 01:11:49,280
passing out after that.
OK.

1019
01:11:49,600 --> 01:11:55,080
And then my next recollection is
the door opening and it felt

1020
01:11:55,080 --> 01:11:59,520
like the coldest Arctic blast of
air I'd ever felt, like it was

1021
01:11:59,520 --> 01:12:04,280
just massively disruptive to
what felt like very peaceful.

1022
01:12:04,280 --> 01:12:09,120
And warm sleep, you know?
And so it's interesting to hear

1023
01:12:09,120 --> 01:12:11,240
that like you said, they
packaged me up because I don't,

1024
01:12:11,240 --> 01:12:14,120
I don't remember any of that.
I remember being on the Gurney.

1025
01:12:15,440 --> 01:12:20,160
I remember shivering
uncontrollably on that Gurney

1026
01:12:20,440 --> 01:12:26,480
and then throwing those, those
warmed blankets over me and

1027
01:12:27,440 --> 01:12:32,160
beginning to get stable pretty
quickly once I warmed up.

1028
01:12:32,840 --> 01:12:37,320
And I was describing to them
what happened.

1029
01:12:37,880 --> 01:12:41,520
And Steve, this is the God's
honest truth, OK?

1030
01:12:43,040 --> 01:12:46,600
One of the I am, I am now what
I'm going to call.

1031
01:12:47,240 --> 01:12:51,320
I'm not, I may not be medically
stable, OK, But I am now lucid

1032
01:12:51,320 --> 01:12:56,040
because I'm now warm, OK?
And they're taking my boots off

1033
01:12:56,040 --> 01:12:59,280
and all this other stuff like
the normal stuff that we see in

1034
01:13:00,720 --> 01:13:01,600
television, you know what I
mean?

1035
01:13:01,600 --> 01:13:05,680
They start getting out the
scissors and I begged them,

1036
01:13:07,040 --> 01:13:11,960
don't cut my pants off, OK?
And the reason for that was I

1037
01:13:11,960 --> 01:13:15,960
was a broke 19 year old college
student and this was all like

1038
01:13:15,960 --> 01:13:22,040
high end Alpine climbing like.
Really expensive stuff that I

1039
01:13:22,040 --> 01:13:23,680
couldn't afford.
To replace.

1040
01:13:23,760 --> 01:13:28,640
OK, so they cut my shoelaces off
of my boots, took my boots off

1041
01:13:28,640 --> 01:13:33,360
and I told the guy literally I
was like I was in an avalanche

1042
01:13:33,400 --> 01:13:37,720
and I walked out like I'm OK
enough for you just to take my

1043
01:13:37,720 --> 01:13:40,240
pants off.
Just take my pants off.

1044
01:13:40,240 --> 01:13:44,240
Do not cut my pants off.
And I kid you not because I have

1045
01:13:44,240 --> 01:13:46,880
the proof because I still own
the pants.

1046
01:13:46,880 --> 01:13:51,040
OK, They didn't cut the pants
off and the medical

1047
01:13:51,040 --> 01:13:52,440
professionals are amazing
people.

1048
01:13:52,440 --> 01:13:54,640
So I'm truly going to say this
in jest.

1049
01:13:55,000 --> 01:13:57,280
The fact.
That they pulled the pants off

1050
01:13:57,280 --> 01:14:01,120
and didn't cut them off is mind
boggling to me, you know what I

1051
01:14:01,120 --> 01:14:03,120
mean.
But they didn't.

1052
01:14:03,600 --> 01:14:09,160
So I literally have the power
stretch pants that I was wearing

1053
01:14:09,160 --> 01:14:13,440
as my base layer that I was in
that avalanche with and I have

1054
01:14:13,440 --> 01:14:17,720
climbed all kinds of other
things since then in those

1055
01:14:17,720 --> 01:14:21,760
pants.
So let's kind of do like a quick

1056
01:14:21,760 --> 01:14:25,320
recap for everybody 'cause, you
know, this is some stuff that

1057
01:14:25,320 --> 01:14:27,800
you, you may have heard from
prior conversations, but

1058
01:14:27,800 --> 01:14:31,520
essentially what happened was
Steve, as you guys all heard,

1059
01:14:31,520 --> 01:14:36,400
Steve is gracious enough to
deposit me at Summit Medical

1060
01:14:36,400 --> 01:14:42,440
Center and the, the oversized
dental office, as he describes,

1061
01:14:43,120 --> 01:14:47,240
wasn't able to take care of me.
And so they were going to flight

1062
01:14:47,240 --> 01:14:53,360
for life me down to Saint
Anthony's Central in Denver.

1063
01:14:54,240 --> 01:14:58,160
And I don't remember the
specifics as to why that didn't

1064
01:14:58,160 --> 01:15:00,280
occur.
There may have been many

1065
01:15:00,280 --> 01:15:03,160
different things involved in
that.

1066
01:15:03,600 --> 01:15:08,680
I recall being told that there
was weather moving in and so

1067
01:15:08,680 --> 01:15:12,080
that that was not going to work
with the helicopter, but I can't

1068
01:15:12,080 --> 01:15:14,120
vouch for that.
And that's neither here nor

1069
01:15:14,120 --> 01:15:17,080
there.
But I specifically remember them

1070
01:15:17,360 --> 01:15:22,840
rushing me down in an ambulance
and there was some crazy things

1071
01:15:22,840 --> 01:15:26,080
that happened along the way.
So the flight nurse who is in

1072
01:15:26,080 --> 01:15:29,200
the ambulance, her name is Julie
Kelby.

1073
01:15:29,520 --> 01:15:31,720
I know this only because I have
a photo with her.

1074
01:15:31,760 --> 01:15:35,040
I've never actually spoken to
her subsequent to all of this,

1075
01:15:35,040 --> 01:15:36,640
but I have a.
Photo of her of.

1076
01:15:37,000 --> 01:15:40,080
Me and her together basically.
I didn't know her name at the

1077
01:15:40,080 --> 01:15:43,480
time.
But I'm in that C collar that

1078
01:15:43,480 --> 01:15:50,800
you were talking.
About and I truly and for years

1079
01:15:50,880 --> 01:15:56,880
slept not on a pillow but with
my head at the corner of a

1080
01:15:56,880 --> 01:16:00,560
pillow.
So I used to literally lay on my

1081
01:16:00,560 --> 01:16:09,680
bed like this and sleep.
So I'm in AC collar which has me

1082
01:16:09,680 --> 01:16:15,000
perfectly aligned and I'm laying
flat on my back and I was a back

1083
01:16:15,000 --> 01:16:19,640
sleeper at the time and a back
sleeper with my head cocked off

1084
01:16:19,640 --> 01:16:24,320
to the side.
So I am doing nothing but

1085
01:16:24,320 --> 01:16:28,680
complaining to Julie the flight
nurse about the sea collar and I

1086
01:16:28,680 --> 01:16:31,840
remember begging her, asking her
numerous times.

1087
01:16:32,280 --> 01:16:35,720
Please take it off.
I'm fine like I walked all this

1088
01:16:35,720 --> 01:16:38,280
way and I'm not saying this in
like this this like.

1089
01:16:38,280 --> 01:16:39,840
Ego.
You, you know what I mean?

1090
01:16:39,840 --> 01:16:42,320
Like, I have plenty of ego at
this point in my or at that

1091
01:16:42,320 --> 01:16:44,320
point in my life.
But I'm saying it just as like

1092
01:16:44,600 --> 01:16:48,040
the facts of the situation,
ma'am, are like, I walked.

1093
01:16:48,280 --> 01:16:50,760
I think I'm OK.
Of course, I, I could have

1094
01:16:50,760 --> 01:16:52,400
easily walked with something
broken.

1095
01:16:52,400 --> 01:16:54,320
Do you know what I mean?
And she kept telling me, no, we

1096
01:16:54,320 --> 01:16:55,720
can't take it off.
You'll have to wait until you

1097
01:16:55,720 --> 01:16:57,200
get to the hospital.
You have to wait until you get

1098
01:16:57,200 --> 01:16:58,880
to the hospital.
And that's all I wanted.

1099
01:16:59,000 --> 01:17:01,120
All I wanted was to get to the
hospital so you could take the

1100
01:17:01,160 --> 01:17:05,120
silly sea cholera, you know?
And I'm saying this and, and

1101
01:17:05,120 --> 01:17:08,160
making some light of it, but
like, that is literally what was

1102
01:17:08,160 --> 01:17:12,200
occurring.
And yet we've heard you describe

1103
01:17:12,680 --> 01:17:18,960
that my scalp is split fully
open on the right hand side.

1104
01:17:19,480 --> 01:17:25,160
You were looking at my skull.
There's a massive swath of my

1105
01:17:25,160 --> 01:17:29,320
skull that's still exposed.
And I know that because that

1106
01:17:29,320 --> 01:17:31,720
wasn't actually repaired until
St.

1107
01:17:31,720 --> 01:17:34,680
Saint Anthony's.
I'm sure they covered me up,

1108
01:17:34,680 --> 01:17:38,080
closed me up, push me back
together to some degree for

1109
01:17:38,080 --> 01:17:41,880
that.
I, I mean, it's what, an hour

1110
01:17:41,880 --> 01:17:46,640
and 15 to an hour and 45 minutes
probably even even in an

1111
01:17:46,640 --> 01:17:49,920
ambulance exceeding the speed
limit just due to how far you're

1112
01:17:49,920 --> 01:17:53,520
going from Frisco to Denver.
I mean, it's not a short drive

1113
01:17:53,840 --> 01:17:57,600
and you can only go so fast down
some of those hills before you

1114
01:17:57,600 --> 01:18:01,120
just literally lose control.
So there's a significant chunk

1115
01:18:01,120 --> 01:18:07,960
of elapsed time in all of this.
Get to Saint Anthony's and sort

1116
01:18:07,960 --> 01:18:14,080
of the short version of events
is I get admitted, my brother

1117
01:18:14,080 --> 01:18:23,240
shows up and I remember being in
the hospital like the like the

1118
01:18:23,240 --> 01:18:25,120
admitted type of rooms, you know
what I mean?

1119
01:18:25,120 --> 01:18:30,120
Like going from emergency room
into being admitted, once

1120
01:18:30,120 --> 01:18:36,920
they've kind of stabilized me
and the nurses would come in

1121
01:18:37,240 --> 01:18:42,080
similar to what you were doing
and checking for my degree of

1122
01:18:42,080 --> 01:18:44,400
lucidity.
And they would come in and they

1123
01:18:44,400 --> 01:18:46,640
would ask me questions and they
would ask me questions and they

1124
01:18:46,640 --> 01:18:49,040
would ask me questions.
And it was super annoying.

1125
01:18:49,320 --> 01:18:53,000
I distinctly remember not
appreciating the questions.

1126
01:18:55,160 --> 01:19:00,800
There was totally a pattern.
And lo and behold, I got to the

1127
01:19:00,800 --> 01:19:06,600
point where I couldn't answer
the questions, and the nurse

1128
01:19:06,840 --> 01:19:10,760
that I couldn't answer the
questions for wisely recognized

1129
01:19:10,760 --> 01:19:16,000
that something was up.
And they sent me at that point

1130
01:19:16,080 --> 01:19:21,440
for ACT scan.
And I don't have any

1131
01:19:21,440 --> 01:19:28,040
recollection of this other than
getting jostled off of the CT

1132
01:19:28,120 --> 01:19:31,560
bed.
So I didn't know that I wasn't

1133
01:19:31,560 --> 01:19:34,920
answering the questions
correctly, but this was all

1134
01:19:34,920 --> 01:19:39,080
explained to me.
But I do remember being awakened

1135
01:19:39,120 --> 01:19:41,720
as they pulled me off of that CT
bed.

1136
01:19:43,320 --> 01:19:48,000
And I remembered in that moment
and I was only awake for a for a

1137
01:19:48,000 --> 01:19:50,760
brief moment.
But I remember seeing a

1138
01:19:50,800 --> 01:19:55,880
concerned look on who whoever
was, whether it was male or

1139
01:19:55,880 --> 01:19:59,160
female, I don't even remember.
But whoever was pulling me off,

1140
01:19:59,160 --> 01:20:03,240
there was a serious and
concerned look on their face.

1141
01:20:03,600 --> 01:20:07,000
And I had not noticed that from
any of the other medical

1142
01:20:07,000 --> 01:20:11,280
professionals at any other time
that I was conscious.

1143
01:20:12,120 --> 01:20:13,520
And I thought, man, that's
weird.

1144
01:20:13,520 --> 01:20:15,200
And it just sort of stuck with
me.

1145
01:20:15,920 --> 01:20:23,040
The next morning I awakened and
it was sort of like you might

1146
01:20:23,040 --> 01:20:27,640
experience or or see or think of
what what would occur in a movie

1147
01:20:28,080 --> 01:20:33,920
because my vision was obscured.
So it wasn't blurred, but it was

1148
01:20:33,920 --> 01:20:37,440
just obscured.
And it was obscured because the

1149
01:20:37,640 --> 01:20:40,760
there was gauze wrapped all
around my head.

1150
01:20:41,520 --> 01:20:46,320
And because of where the
injuries were, the, the edges of

1151
01:20:46,320 --> 01:20:52,320
the gauze covered like just
enough of the corners of my eyes

1152
01:20:52,520 --> 01:20:56,520
so that my eyes weren't covered,
but my vision was ever so

1153
01:20:56,520 --> 01:21:00,320
slightly obscured.
So my first recollection of

1154
01:21:00,680 --> 01:21:04,200
awakening, because I don't think
this was really a regaining of

1155
01:21:04,200 --> 01:21:08,000
consciousness at this point,
this is kind of the next day I'm

1156
01:21:08,000 --> 01:21:10,600
awakening.
And then that's when it was

1157
01:21:10,600 --> 01:21:14,200
explained to me that I was
rushed into emergency brain

1158
01:21:14,200 --> 01:21:19,760
surgery that night and they
pulled me off the CT bed because

1159
01:21:19,760 --> 01:21:23,480
they quite literally were very
concerned.

1160
01:21:23,800 --> 01:21:27,320
So I had what was medically
considered to be a subdural

1161
01:21:27,320 --> 01:21:33,400
hematoma, which is bleeding on
the brain, and the bleeding in

1162
01:21:33,480 --> 01:21:38,840
and on my brain was creating
pressure because my brain is

1163
01:21:38,840 --> 01:21:41,760
bleeding from the trauma.
So now for everybody that's

1164
01:21:41,760 --> 01:21:45,640
listening, this is now not just
the trauma that Steve has

1165
01:21:45,640 --> 01:21:48,680
described, which is bleeding
outside of the brain.

1166
01:21:48,880 --> 01:21:53,160
OK, so scalp and all that stuff,
this is now bleeding inside of

1167
01:21:53,160 --> 01:21:58,160
my skull.
And the procedure for relieving

1168
01:21:58,160 --> 01:22:02,560
that pressure is to mechanically
relieve the pressure.

1169
01:22:03,080 --> 01:22:07,040
And what I mean by that is, is
that at that point they cut your

1170
01:22:07,040 --> 01:22:12,760
scalp open, they take a bone saw
and they cut a chunk of your

1171
01:22:12,760 --> 01:22:18,320
skull out and they literally
make a hole so that the blood

1172
01:22:18,320 --> 01:22:21,480
can start to drain out and so
that they can relieve the

1173
01:22:21,480 --> 01:22:25,280
pressure from all of the
bleeding that is happening in

1174
01:22:25,280 --> 01:22:28,800
your brain.
So they relieve the pressure in

1175
01:22:28,800 --> 01:22:34,840
this surgery, they screw you
back together OK with titanium

1176
01:22:36,120 --> 01:22:39,960
screws in terms of of replacing
what is sort of like a

1177
01:22:39,960 --> 01:22:45,480
triangular Jack O Lantern type
of of peace taken out of my

1178
01:22:45,480 --> 01:22:48,400
skull.
And then they install a drain.

1179
01:22:48,840 --> 01:22:53,440
So I had a tube that stuck out
of the side of my head that

1180
01:22:54,960 --> 01:22:58,520
blood drained out of and it
would fill up.

1181
01:22:59,000 --> 01:23:03,840
It would literally fill up and
they would replace the bag or

1182
01:23:03,840 --> 01:23:06,880
the little container that it was
in with a freshman.

1183
01:23:07,960 --> 01:23:14,280
So the extent of my injuries
included the subdural hematoma

1184
01:23:14,800 --> 01:23:20,200
that was as a result of all of
the trauma, which included my

1185
01:23:20,200 --> 01:23:23,120
skull being fractured in three
places.

1186
01:23:23,760 --> 01:23:28,960
And in particular, both of the
back portions of my skull which

1187
01:23:28,960 --> 01:23:33,720
were fractured were shoved
forward and on the left hand

1188
01:23:33,720 --> 01:23:39,200
side, that shoving forward
pinched my auditory nerve.

1189
01:23:39,840 --> 01:23:45,800
And so for a big maybe a month
or so, I literally had zero

1190
01:23:45,800 --> 01:23:49,320
hearing in my left ear.
And that was that was medically

1191
01:23:49,320 --> 01:23:53,360
confirmed with audiology,
audiologists and audiological

1192
01:23:53,360 --> 01:23:54,680
tests and all of that type of
stuff.

1193
01:23:54,680 --> 01:23:56,600
I literally could not hear out
of my left ear.

1194
01:23:56,960 --> 01:24:01,120
And that was really quite scary.
So complete loss of hearing in

1195
01:24:01,120 --> 01:24:04,560
my left ear.
My skull was fractured in three

1196
01:24:04,560 --> 01:24:06,880
places as Steve you've
described.

1197
01:24:07,160 --> 01:24:11,800
My head was split on the right
hand side from just above my

1198
01:24:11,800 --> 01:24:14,840
eyebrow all the way to the back
of my head.

1199
01:24:14,840 --> 01:24:18,440
And that was that massive 3 inch
wide gash that you were talking

1200
01:24:18,440 --> 01:24:21,920
about.
Interestingly enough, along that

1201
01:24:21,920 --> 01:24:27,520
gash there was no skull
fracture.

1202
01:24:28,280 --> 01:24:37,480
So where they cut me open to do
the removal of the piece of my

1203
01:24:37,480 --> 01:24:42,440
skull was on the left hand side
in my hairline so that they

1204
01:24:42,440 --> 01:24:46,400
could look physically look at
that skull fracture.

1205
01:24:47,120 --> 01:24:49,160
And I think the reasoning was
that's.

1206
01:24:49,160 --> 01:24:52,280
Already broken, it'll sort of be
easier to cut.

1207
01:24:52,280 --> 01:24:57,720
Maybe you know.
So the three skull fractures,

1208
01:24:57,960 --> 01:25:03,680
the shoving forward of the rear
piece of the skull that damaged

1209
01:25:03,680 --> 01:25:08,200
the auditory nerve.
And the reason why my speech was

1210
01:25:08,200 --> 01:25:13,440
so garbled is because my jaw was
broken on both sides.

1211
01:25:14,080 --> 01:25:17,680
So on the right hand side and on
the left hand side my jaw was

1212
01:25:17,680 --> 01:25:21,640
broken.
And in the photos of me in those

1213
01:25:21,640 --> 01:25:26,960
first handful of days before
they reconstructed my jaw or put

1214
01:25:26,960 --> 01:25:29,800
my jaw back together with plates
and wires and all that type of

1215
01:25:29,800 --> 01:25:32,640
stuff, my mouth is just dripped
open.

1216
01:25:32,640 --> 01:25:38,920
I literally can't even close it.
And so that fully explains why

1217
01:25:39,280 --> 01:25:45,080
what I am perceiving as crystal
clear communication with you,

1218
01:25:45,880 --> 01:25:49,840
you can barely even understand,
you know?

1219
01:25:49,880 --> 01:25:56,200
And I had 0 awareness of that.
So I spent a total of 6 days at

1220
01:25:56,200 --> 01:25:59,600
Saint Anthony Central.
The first three were in ICU,

1221
01:25:59,960 --> 01:26:04,080
which included the period of
time with the brain surgeon or

1222
01:26:04,080 --> 01:26:09,840
brain surgery.
And then the plastic surgeon

1223
01:26:10,200 --> 01:26:15,400
repaired my jaw on day 5.
And so that was titanium plates

1224
01:26:15,440 --> 01:26:22,840
to fix the fractures and then a
series of the most medieval kind

1225
01:26:22,840 --> 01:26:27,600
of rudimentary braces that I'd
ever experienced.

1226
01:26:27,600 --> 01:26:33,800
I mean, it was just awful.
It was truly just metal and

1227
01:26:33,800 --> 01:26:38,720
wires in my mouth.
So nothing even nice as like

1228
01:26:38,720 --> 01:26:42,160
traditional braces to literally
wire my mouth shut.

1229
01:26:42,280 --> 01:26:49,240
After 17 days of my, of my mouth
being wired shut, went to the

1230
01:26:49,240 --> 01:26:53,160
plastic surgeon for, you know,
reassessment, take some extra

1231
01:26:53,160 --> 01:26:54,880
X-rays.
He's like, OK, you're healing up

1232
01:26:54,880 --> 01:26:57,600
really well.
Everything seems to be in pretty

1233
01:26:57,600 --> 01:27:01,080
good shape.
We're going to cut you loose,

1234
01:27:01,320 --> 01:27:02,960
OK?
Meaning we're going to literally

1235
01:27:02,960 --> 01:27:08,200
cut the wires so that you can
open your mouth and go back to

1236
01:27:08,200 --> 01:27:09,560
eating.
OK.

1237
01:27:10,240 --> 01:27:14,000
And that, Steve was one of the
weirdest experiences and one of

1238
01:27:14,000 --> 01:27:16,160
the scariest experiences of my
life.

1239
01:27:16,160 --> 01:27:22,240
And here's why.
So he cuts the wires that held

1240
01:27:22,240 --> 01:27:25,840
my jaw closed.
So I still have these

1241
01:27:25,840 --> 01:27:30,200
rudimentary braces on the top
and on the bottom because they

1242
01:27:30,200 --> 01:27:35,280
were to then connect and hold
the jaw top and bottom together.

1243
01:27:35,920 --> 01:27:39,920
So the wires are cut.
So now I have braces at the top,

1244
01:27:39,920 --> 01:27:41,840
essentially braces at the
bottom.

1245
01:27:42,520 --> 01:27:46,360
And he says, OK, go ahead and
open your mouth.

1246
01:27:46,840 --> 01:27:49,040
I'm like, great.
This is the.

1247
01:27:49,040 --> 01:27:51,640
Moment we've all been at the
very least I've been waiting for

1248
01:27:51,640 --> 01:27:57,880
for 17 days opening my mouth OK
and I open my mouth and he goes

1249
01:27:57,880 --> 01:28:03,600
OK now I'm going to show you how
to like work opening your mouth.

1250
01:28:04,040 --> 01:28:08,800
That's weird.
My mouth is open and he goes

1251
01:28:08,800 --> 01:28:12,440
stick your finger in your mouth.
OK cool, stick my finger in my

1252
01:28:12,440 --> 01:28:16,120
mouth but I can't it literally
hits my teeth.

1253
01:28:17,800 --> 01:28:25,320
So I have this actual sensation
that my mouth is fully wide open

1254
01:28:25,880 --> 01:28:33,040
and that I have actually opened
my mouth and my upper jaw and

1255
01:28:33,040 --> 01:28:39,720
lower jaw separated probably 3mm
meaning there was some movement,

1256
01:28:40,280 --> 01:28:46,680
but my teeth haven't even they
they're still overlapped.

1257
01:28:46,680 --> 01:28:52,920
You know what I mean?
And so that was weird.

1258
01:28:53,280 --> 01:28:58,960
I mean weird to the point of
scary and certainly weird to the

1259
01:28:58,960 --> 01:29:03,600
point of resetting expectations
because I thought my jaw works.

1260
01:29:03,680 --> 01:29:08,080
It's always worked well.
When you don't move it for 17

1261
01:29:08,080 --> 01:29:11,880
full days, it doesn't work the
same way.

1262
01:29:12,440 --> 01:29:15,520
So the joint is still there, but
all of those muscles had

1263
01:29:15,520 --> 01:29:19,680
basically contracted.
Not necessarily atrophy, they

1264
01:29:19,680 --> 01:29:23,360
probably did, but more of a
contraction and a tightening.

1265
01:29:23,960 --> 01:29:31,000
So I spent roughly the next six
weeks having to many times per

1266
01:29:31,000 --> 01:29:39,440
day, stick my hands in my mouth
and stretch my jaw open more and

1267
01:29:39,440 --> 01:29:45,960
more and more and more and more.
So towards the end of roughly a

1268
01:29:45,960 --> 01:29:51,600
month of recovery, I pick up a
wall phone.

1269
01:29:51,600 --> 01:29:54,520
Because we still had those back
then, had cell phones.

1270
01:29:54,520 --> 01:29:58,240
But this is back when we all
cared about minutes and nights

1271
01:29:58,240 --> 01:30:00,160
and weekends and.
All that kind of stuff, you

1272
01:30:00,160 --> 01:30:03,520
know.
And so I had a, a wall phone in

1273
01:30:03,520 --> 01:30:07,800
my apartment and I remember
calling my sister, picking up

1274
01:30:07,800 --> 01:30:10,600
the phone to call my sister.
And I'm right-handed.

1275
01:30:11,480 --> 01:30:14,320
For whatever reason, I picked up
the phone with my left hand and

1276
01:30:14,320 --> 01:30:17,680
I put it against my left ear,
which is again, just not my

1277
01:30:17,680 --> 01:30:20,720
dominant side.
And I had lost my hearing in

1278
01:30:20,720 --> 01:30:25,240
that side.
And I was absolutely shocked to

1279
01:30:25,240 --> 01:30:30,560
hear the dial tone.
I was blown away by that.

1280
01:30:31,440 --> 01:30:36,920
And So what ended up happening
was approximately 70% of my

1281
01:30:36,920 --> 01:30:41,200
hearing recovered.
So I have diminished hearing in

1282
01:30:41,200 --> 01:30:44,360
my left ear, but full hearing in
my right.

1283
01:30:44,800 --> 01:30:50,720
And I, I can generally hear
fine, but for sure it's much,

1284
01:30:50,720 --> 01:30:52,680
much, much better on my right
than on my left.

1285
01:30:53,520 --> 01:30:56,960
But that was a huge, huge
blessing of being able to have

1286
01:30:57,200 --> 01:31:00,640
hearing, even some hearing, even
though it was diminished on my

1287
01:31:00,640 --> 01:31:04,640
left side.
So I was in college at the time.

1288
01:31:04,640 --> 01:31:09,960
As mentioned, I lost three weeks
or I was out of school for three

1289
01:31:09,960 --> 01:31:11,840
weeks.
I was out of work for three

1290
01:31:11,840 --> 01:31:15,640
weeks because I was going to
Metro State in downtown Denver,

1291
01:31:15,640 --> 01:31:19,000
putting my way or paying my way
through on my own.

1292
01:31:19,000 --> 01:31:22,720
So I was full time employee and
a full time student.

1293
01:31:23,200 --> 01:31:27,800
So I missed three weeks of
school and then went back and

1294
01:31:27,800 --> 01:31:31,040
finished out some classes, went
back to work after three weeks

1295
01:31:31,560 --> 01:31:36,760
and really grateful for all of
the folks that, you know, all

1296
01:31:36,760 --> 01:31:39,840
the all the King's men that put
Humpty Dumpty fact together

1297
01:31:39,840 --> 01:31:40,920
again.
Basically.

1298
01:31:41,440 --> 01:31:46,040
Yeah.
But I am, I am fully convinced

1299
01:31:46,480 --> 01:31:52,280
that if you were not in that
parking lot that I either die in

1300
01:31:52,280 --> 01:31:58,200
the parking lot or if I end up
with enough strength to get in

1301
01:31:58,200 --> 01:32:00,720
the car.
And we've really described how

1302
01:32:00,720 --> 01:32:05,360
much that would have required.
OK, if I get in the car, there

1303
01:32:05,360 --> 01:32:10,920
is no question in my mind that I
die in that Toyota pickup on

1304
01:32:10,920 --> 01:32:13,480
that Fire Rd.
No question in my mind.

1305
01:32:14,040 --> 01:32:16,880
Because for all the listeners
out there, you can literally

1306
01:32:16,880 --> 01:32:20,240
Google this fire Rd.
OK, It's from Bakerville up to

1307
01:32:20,240 --> 01:32:22,240
the Grayson Tori summer
trailhead.

1308
01:32:22,520 --> 01:32:28,240
And Google Maps has that at
exactly 3 miles and it says that

1309
01:32:28,240 --> 01:32:31,600
it'll take approximately 17
minutes to drive that.

1310
01:32:32,720 --> 01:32:36,640
And it's reasonable to assume
that that would be in dry

1311
01:32:36,640 --> 01:32:40,480
conditions.
And we were obviously navigating

1312
01:32:40,480 --> 01:32:45,760
that in snowy conditions.
And so I'm there's in, in my

1313
01:32:45,760 --> 01:32:50,920
mind, there's absolutely no way
that I don't survive unless you

1314
01:32:50,920 --> 01:32:55,320
were there in the parking lot.
And so I am literally eternally

1315
01:32:55,320 --> 01:32:57,280
grateful for the fact that you
were there.

1316
01:32:57,840 --> 01:33:02,480
And you know, we ask every every
guest on the show.

1317
01:33:02,480 --> 01:33:04,200
And in this case, I'm kind of a
guest.

1318
01:33:04,360 --> 01:33:06,040
So I'm going to ask it to
myself.

1319
01:33:06,240 --> 01:33:09,280
It's coming to you here.
Next, and we welcome your, your

1320
01:33:09,280 --> 01:33:11,200
genuine and authentic response
here.

1321
01:33:11,200 --> 01:33:13,920
But for me the question is or
for both of us, the question is

1322
01:33:13,920 --> 01:33:17,000
coincidence or God.
And for me it's without

1323
01:33:17,000 --> 01:33:20,600
question, you were there.
You were there on purpose from

1324
01:33:20,600 --> 01:33:24,520
my perspective, and it's fully a
miracle.

1325
01:33:24,640 --> 01:33:28,760
It's fully God.
It's not a coincidence, but you

1326
01:33:28,760 --> 01:33:32,080
are entitled to your your
opinion and your perspective.

1327
01:33:32,080 --> 01:33:35,320
So the question to you,
coincidence or God, Steve?

1328
01:33:36,880 --> 01:33:45,640
It's a hard 1.
And so, so there was another

1329
01:33:46,640 --> 01:33:54,720
incident that had happened in
roughly 1998 where I was in a

1330
01:33:54,720 --> 01:33:58,680
place, the right place at the
right time.

1331
01:34:00,200 --> 01:34:08,800
And both in that situation and
in that day, on that day in

1332
01:34:08,800 --> 01:34:16,040
November with you, the choices
that I made, the, the things

1333
01:34:16,160 --> 01:34:22,880
that I did were completely out
of the ordinary that, you know,

1334
01:34:22,920 --> 01:34:28,280
that I'd never done things like
that before, made those types of

1335
01:34:28,320 --> 01:34:36,680
choices before and never since.
So it's very out of the ordinary

1336
01:34:36,680 --> 01:34:44,800
for me, you know, that the, and
in both of those situations, you

1337
01:34:44,800 --> 01:34:50,840
know, I cannot explain it, but
I, I felt that I was called to

1338
01:34:50,840 --> 01:34:54,080
be there.
I felt that I went, that I was

1339
01:34:54,080 --> 01:34:57,400
there, you know, you know, and
maybe that's the, you know, the

1340
01:34:57,400 --> 01:35:02,400
feeling, you know, that I was
describing afterwards, you know,

1341
01:35:02,400 --> 01:35:06,680
because in the run up of going
there, in both of those

1342
01:35:06,680 --> 01:35:09,520
situations, there was nothing
conscious about it.

1343
01:35:09,720 --> 01:35:19,680
I was just doing and, but I have
a really, really difficult time

1344
01:35:20,560 --> 01:35:22,720
with the idea of divine
intervention.

1345
01:35:23,840 --> 01:35:32,840
And, and my, my, my hang up is,
you know, the idea of, you know,

1346
01:35:32,840 --> 01:35:38,040
that you have, you know, you
know, two people, you know,

1347
01:35:38,400 --> 01:35:42,440
praying for their homes to be
spared by the hurricane and they

1348
01:35:42,440 --> 01:35:48,040
return and their home is, was
spared, but the house right next

1349
01:35:48,040 --> 01:35:52,040
door to it was destroyed.
And you know, what is it that

1350
01:35:52,400 --> 01:35:58,120
that other person just didn't
pray hard enough or, or, you

1351
01:35:58,160 --> 01:36:03,920
know, or what causes one person
to have a miracle or have this

1352
01:36:03,920 --> 01:36:06,960
divine intervention or have this
thing, but another person

1353
01:36:06,960 --> 01:36:13,480
doesn't, you know, or take that
to be a, a child who has, is

1354
01:36:13,480 --> 01:36:18,640
completely innocent, you know,
and you know, so I, I really

1355
01:36:18,640 --> 01:36:24,560
struggle with this, but again,
not the first time I'd

1356
01:36:24,560 --> 01:36:32,120
experienced this very same
feeling or, or I don't even know

1357
01:36:32,120 --> 01:36:33,320
how to explain it.
I can't.

1358
01:36:33,320 --> 01:36:40,080
I just, it's just something I
felt and what I liken it to and

1359
01:36:40,080 --> 01:36:43,920
anyone and just, and it's just,
you know, decades of, you know,

1360
01:36:44,160 --> 01:36:49,880
of piercing things together of
trying to figure out, you know,

1361
01:36:49,920 --> 01:36:57,240
or you or decide what it is that
I think and that, you know,

1362
01:36:57,240 --> 01:37:04,240
there's the that was the, you
know, the Japanese researcher

1363
01:37:04,240 --> 01:37:06,680
and maybe he's a pseudo
scientist or whatever, the the

1364
01:37:06,880 --> 01:37:12,760
emoto guy that studied water
crystals under a microscope.

1365
01:37:14,560 --> 01:37:18,240
And I don't know if you're
familiar with this, but I think

1366
01:37:18,240 --> 01:37:21,160
it's like a surrow emoto or
something like that.

1367
01:37:21,480 --> 01:37:26,040
But anyway, but it basically it
was it was, you know, his

1368
01:37:26,040 --> 01:37:30,000
research was was it was looking
at that.

1369
01:37:30,000 --> 01:37:36,720
If you spoke, you know,
encouraging things over these

1370
01:37:36,720 --> 01:37:41,760
samples that they would form,
you know, more beautiful in

1371
01:37:41,760 --> 01:37:48,160
ornate, you know, you know,
configurations, yeah, formations

1372
01:37:48,480 --> 01:37:52,120
and and then it's and then if
you were, you know, doing

1373
01:37:52,120 --> 01:37:55,760
negative things that they would,
you know, be disjointed and and,

1374
01:37:55,760 --> 01:37:59,680
you know, and so, you know, and
I so I, you know, I hear this

1375
01:37:59,680 --> 01:38:03,040
thing and then I I think about
well, that, you know, everything

1376
01:38:03,040 --> 01:38:07,280
in creation is beautiful.
I mean, you look at the

1377
01:38:07,280 --> 01:38:13,400
intricacy of, you know, of, of
snowflake and you know, and you

1378
01:38:13,520 --> 01:38:19,400
know, you know that and every
single thing in the universe is,

1379
01:38:20,200 --> 01:38:24,080
is, you know, is it, you know,
there's just no question that

1380
01:38:24,080 --> 01:38:29,560
it's intelligently and purposely
and beautifully designed.

1381
01:38:30,160 --> 01:38:35,320
And and that is the case whether
you're zooming, you know, out

1382
01:38:35,320 --> 01:38:41,000
into space, you know, by, you
know, billions of light years or

1383
01:38:41,000 --> 01:38:46,200
going deep into a human cell,
you know, you know, you can go,

1384
01:38:46,440 --> 01:38:50,360
as you know, equally as deep
into that in terms of

1385
01:38:50,640 --> 01:38:53,280
introducing.
It's it's intelligent, it's

1386
01:38:53,280 --> 01:38:55,760
beautiful.
And it's, you know, and it's,

1387
01:38:56,600 --> 01:38:58,960
you know, there's just it's just
not, it's not an accident.

1388
01:38:59,800 --> 01:39:03,400
And then talking about that
emoto guy, you know, the energy

1389
01:39:04,200 --> 01:39:09,720
is really a thing and all of it
is created by an intelligent

1390
01:39:09,720 --> 01:39:11,800
creator.
So yes, it's all God.

1391
01:39:11,880 --> 01:39:17,880
Of course it has to be.
But but you know, but that's the

1392
01:39:17,880 --> 01:39:22,320
only way that I've come up with
this idea of, you know, why this

1393
01:39:22,320 --> 01:39:27,000
guy gets another chance and
another one's not so, so, so

1394
01:39:27,000 --> 01:39:31,840
fortunate.
And you know that it that it's

1395
01:39:32,360 --> 01:39:35,000
you know that there, there, you
know, there is energy.

1396
01:39:35,800 --> 01:39:39,960
You know, there's another thing,
you know, later I took I, you

1397
01:39:39,960 --> 01:39:43,040
know, doing this, you know,
course I like courses.

1398
01:39:43,040 --> 01:39:46,840
I guess I thought that I was
doing this course and they were

1399
01:39:46,840 --> 01:39:49,400
talking about the conscious mind
and the subconscious mind.

1400
01:39:49,400 --> 01:39:52,600
They talked about the Super
conscious mind and it's, you

1401
01:39:52,600 --> 01:39:55,920
know, an overarching thing.
And then you think about, you

1402
01:39:55,920 --> 01:40:01,200
know, that they've, they've
proven that, that that fungi in

1403
01:40:01,200 --> 01:40:07,200
soil can transmit.
Communication between Organism

1404
01:40:08,960 --> 01:40:14,760
and it, it, it, it that happens.
And so, yeah, I'm like, you

1405
01:40:14,760 --> 01:40:19,880
know, if this intelligent
creation can have plants

1406
01:40:20,240 --> 01:40:24,080
communicate with each other, you
know, through this, you know,

1407
01:40:24,080 --> 01:40:28,640
network of, of, of fungi, that
how is it not possible that

1408
01:40:28,920 --> 01:40:34,600
humans are all beings have some
level of, you know, and it's

1409
01:40:34,600 --> 01:40:40,360
just a a matter of if you're
tuned into that or not to be

1410
01:40:40,360 --> 01:40:44,360
receptive to it.
That's what I've come up with

1411
01:40:44,440 --> 01:40:49,080
that it's, you know, that, that,
you know, on whatever wavelength

1412
01:40:49,360 --> 01:40:58,200
on that day at that time that I
wound up going there and it's

1413
01:40:58,200 --> 01:41:02,720
for no particular reason.
And, you know, and, and, you

1414
01:41:02,720 --> 01:41:05,600
know, and then the, you know, as
it winds up, it was, you know,

1415
01:41:06,040 --> 01:41:07,640
probably a really good thing
that I did.

1416
01:41:09,760 --> 01:41:16,320
So I don't know if that's the
most convoluted and backward

1417
01:41:16,520 --> 01:41:20,480
thing ever, but that's the only
thing that I've been able to

1418
01:41:20,480 --> 01:41:25,040
come up with over the last, you
know, you know, couple of

1419
01:41:25,040 --> 01:41:29,040
decades of, of this.
And, you know, and as I said, it

1420
01:41:29,040 --> 01:41:32,720
happened a a a couple of times
that I had that same feeling.

1421
01:41:33,720 --> 01:41:38,080
It stopped.
I haven't had any situations

1422
01:41:38,200 --> 01:41:42,520
that, you know, like that since
November of 2000.

1423
01:41:43,440 --> 01:41:48,800
Part of it is I'm kind of
thankful for that.

1424
01:41:49,920 --> 01:41:53,760
But but it, you know, but it
was, yeah, that was, that was a

1425
01:41:53,760 --> 01:41:58,400
thing.
I, I asked, you know, recently I

1426
01:41:58,400 --> 01:42:05,240
was at a wedding and the, the
ceremony was performed by a

1427
01:42:05,240 --> 01:42:10,000
pastor from my mom's church in
Alabama, where they've retired.

1428
01:42:10,520 --> 01:42:14,440
And, and I, I was just, you
know, I, I was telling them

1429
01:42:14,520 --> 01:42:18,160
about that I was going to be
doing this, you know, talk about

1430
01:42:18,160 --> 01:42:24,240
this story.
And I asked him what he thought.

1431
01:42:24,640 --> 01:42:36,880
And Larry just started reciting
Henry David Thoreau and I asked

1432
01:42:36,880 --> 01:42:39,480
him to text it to me because I
didn't remember what he was

1433
01:42:39,480 --> 01:42:44,600
saying.
But what Larry was quoting from

1434
01:42:44,840 --> 01:42:52,640
Henry David Thoreau, Walden was
only that day dawns to which we

1435
01:42:52,640 --> 01:42:56,120
are awake.
There is more day to dawn.

1436
01:42:56,320 --> 01:43:00,960
The sun is but a morning star
and you know, and, and then we

1437
01:43:00,960 --> 01:43:03,360
talked about it for a little bit
and then, you know, and

1438
01:43:03,360 --> 01:43:06,760
apparently even with, you know,
this has been going on, you know

1439
01:43:06,760 --> 01:43:11,640
this we've been telling the
story for, you know, an hour and

1440
01:43:11,640 --> 01:43:15,000
a half or something.
I talked to him about this for,

1441
01:43:15,280 --> 01:43:20,800
you know, maybe 3 minutes and,
and his immediate response was

1442
01:43:20,800 --> 01:43:26,160
that isn't it, you know, the
dawn days to to those who are

1443
01:43:26,160 --> 01:43:30,200
receptive to it.
And, and so and, and it is right

1444
01:43:30,200 --> 01:43:32,800
off the bat.
And, you know, and I, and I just

1445
01:43:32,800 --> 01:43:38,400
looked at him in absolute
bewilderment because it'd taken

1446
01:43:38,400 --> 01:43:43,600
me like 25 years to come up with
something, you know, an eighth

1447
01:43:43,600 --> 01:43:47,600
of his, his eloquent.
Yeah, well, it.

1448
01:43:47,600 --> 01:43:49,040
Seems like it's always the way,
right?

1449
01:43:49,040 --> 01:43:51,920
Some outside perspective
sometimes just gives us some.

1450
01:43:51,920 --> 01:43:54,120
We're like, oh, there it is, you
know?

1451
01:43:54,920 --> 01:44:00,880
And but you know, you know,
Larry, you know, that was just

1452
01:44:00,880 --> 01:44:02,200
right off him.
Of course.

1453
01:44:02,200 --> 01:44:07,600
Yeah, yeah, it's it's you know,
it's there to those that are are

1454
01:44:07,600 --> 01:44:10,600
that are receptive to it or that
are awaiting to it.

1455
01:44:11,760 --> 01:44:15,160
And, and and it's like went on
like oh, of course that is done.

1456
01:44:15,160 --> 01:44:18,760
Every knows that.
Like I didn't know that.

1457
01:44:21,160 --> 01:44:26,320
So is that an answer to a
question or was that even

1458
01:44:26,320 --> 01:44:27,560
coherent?
I don't know.

1459
01:44:28,000 --> 01:44:30,960
That's all good man.
We, we genuinely appreciate the

1460
01:44:30,960 --> 01:44:33,360
perspective there.
Everybody is entitled to their

1461
01:44:33,360 --> 01:44:37,600
own and I, I think you'd laid
yours out pretty clearly.

1462
01:44:37,800 --> 01:44:39,720
So I mean that.
Thank you.

1463
01:44:39,720 --> 01:44:43,640
Well.
I, yeah, I, I've been thinking

1464
01:44:43,640 --> 01:44:45,960
about it and that's the best
I've been able to come up with.

1465
01:44:46,640 --> 01:44:51,200
But, but, yeah, but it's, you
know, I, I, I, I don't, you

1466
01:44:51,200 --> 01:44:55,320
know, is that, is that the, you
know, our clairvoyance is that,

1467
01:44:55,480 --> 01:45:02,200
you know, you know, someone who
is just, you know, better tuned

1468
01:45:02,880 --> 01:45:07,200
to a frequency, you know, you
know, or is it all a bunch of

1469
01:45:07,200 --> 01:45:10,680
hogwash?
I don't know.

1470
01:45:10,680 --> 01:45:14,520
But, but I, I, I just, you know,
just looking at the natural

1471
01:45:14,520 --> 01:45:18,160
world as I've observed it,
there's no question that it's

1472
01:45:18,160 --> 01:45:22,880
all God.
And and that's, you know, that

1473
01:45:23,920 --> 01:45:28,320
couldn't be any other way.
Appreciate that.

1474
01:45:29,640 --> 01:45:33,200
Well, the final question that we
ask all of our guests and again

1475
01:45:33,200 --> 01:45:35,800
we'll both answer this since
we're very.

1476
01:45:35,800 --> 01:45:40,520
Clearly involved in this story,
I'll have you go first.

1477
01:45:40,520 --> 01:45:46,840
On this one is how has your life
changed as a result of this

1478
01:45:47,080 --> 01:45:52,280
whole incident?
I spent a lot of time thinking

1479
01:45:52,280 --> 01:45:57,560
through these things, trying to
figure out what it is that you

1480
01:45:57,560 --> 01:46:00,680
know, what is this experience
that, that you know, that I've

1481
01:46:00,680 --> 01:46:09,080
had, You know, the, you know,
and you know, I'm not a real

1482
01:46:09,200 --> 01:46:12,760
intellectual person.
I'm you know, I, I, you know,

1483
01:46:12,760 --> 01:46:17,280
I'm, I'm not a a scholarly, you
know, whatever, you know, like

1484
01:46:17,280 --> 01:46:23,440
Larry, if he can bout off, you
know, poetry off the top of his

1485
01:46:23,440 --> 01:46:27,440
head, that's not me.
And so I you know, I don't know

1486
01:46:27,440 --> 01:46:31,120
that I, you know, that I do a
lot of really deep

1487
01:46:31,120 --> 01:46:37,680
introspection.
But but it's, you know, and, and

1488
01:46:38,480 --> 01:46:42,760
you know, experiences, you know,
from those, you know, from those

1489
01:46:42,760 --> 01:46:46,960
experiences, but you know, spent
some time trying to, you know,

1490
01:46:46,960 --> 01:46:54,000
order my life around, you know,
you know what those experiences

1491
01:46:54,000 --> 01:47:00,600
mean and you know, coming, you
know, you know, trying to

1492
01:47:00,600 --> 01:47:05,480
decipher spiritually, you know,
you know, what is this existence

1493
01:47:05,480 --> 01:47:07,240
for me?
And, and I don't know if that's

1494
01:47:07,240 --> 01:47:11,080
an answer either, but you know,
but it's, you know, these

1495
01:47:11,080 --> 01:47:13,920
experience, you know, these
experiences that you know,

1496
01:47:13,920 --> 01:47:21,120
they've now, you know, maybe,
you know, you know, I, you know,

1497
01:47:21,120 --> 01:47:27,320
I'll ask you, you know,
coincidence, you know, you know,

1498
01:47:27,440 --> 01:47:32,560
I put the same question to you.
Yeah, So for me, it's nowhere

1499
01:47:32,560 --> 01:47:36,440
even close to coincidence.
Again, I just want to be crystal

1500
01:47:36,440 --> 01:47:38,640
clear.
I fully respect your opinion and

1501
01:47:38,640 --> 01:47:42,440
perspective on all of that.
As I was mentioning, I, I know

1502
01:47:42,440 --> 01:47:45,720
for a fact I would have died
there like no question.

1503
01:47:46,800 --> 01:47:56,720
So I see you being there as 100%
God ordained and I'm super

1504
01:47:56,720 --> 01:47:59,760
grateful for that.
I don't have a great response

1505
01:47:59,760 --> 01:48:04,480
though to why me, why you, you
know what I mean.

1506
01:48:04,800 --> 01:48:07,600
I think I think there's a lot of
validity to what you were

1507
01:48:07,600 --> 01:48:09,680
describing, which is that it's
all God.

1508
01:48:10,680 --> 01:48:13,880
I think that and I and I firmly
believe this.

1509
01:48:13,880 --> 01:48:16,840
So I do think I guess to some
degree I have a response to like

1510
01:48:16,840 --> 01:48:19,800
why me?
Why you, those types of things.

1511
01:48:21,240 --> 01:48:24,440
And it might sound like for
anybody that hears this, that

1512
01:48:24,440 --> 01:48:30,800
it's easy for me to say because
I'm still living, but I view God

1513
01:48:30,800 --> 01:48:35,480
as being sovereign and
completely in control.

1514
01:48:35,760 --> 01:48:41,560
And so he decided that.
Was that was me, you know, sure

1515
01:48:41,560 --> 01:48:43,800
wasn't me that decided that.
I mean, here I'm the guy.

1516
01:48:43,800 --> 01:48:47,280
Like, I'm going to drive myself
to the hospital and I can't even

1517
01:48:47,280 --> 01:48:53,440
get my jacket off, you know?
But I'm, I'm going to also kind

1518
01:48:53,440 --> 01:48:58,240
of go into that, that question
of how has my life changed?

1519
01:48:59,360 --> 01:49:03,680
So if you can, you can.
Ask that of me if you want, you

1520
01:49:03,680 --> 01:49:09,800
know, but right away.
Didn't.

1521
01:49:11,560 --> 01:49:16,640
And I think it's really
important for me at this point

1522
01:49:16,640 --> 01:49:20,920
in my life to be honest with
everybody that hears this

1523
01:49:22,720 --> 01:49:29,800
because in hindsight, in
retrospect, I am, I'm not glad

1524
01:49:30,240 --> 01:49:35,000
that it didn't change, OK?
I'm in fact kind of borderline

1525
01:49:35,000 --> 01:49:40,080
ashamed that I used those words.
But my ego was so big.

1526
01:49:40,080 --> 01:49:45,200
Like pride was so big for me and
I wasn't even aware of it, but

1527
01:49:45,200 --> 01:49:49,120
it was huge.
Like first and foremost, early

1528
01:49:49,120 --> 01:49:56,640
season winter conditions is
exactly when you for sure do not

1529
01:49:56,640 --> 01:50:01,600
want to be climbing snow in the
mountains pretty much anywhere

1530
01:50:01,760 --> 01:50:06,600
but let alone the almost
suicidal snowpack that is

1531
01:50:06,600 --> 01:50:13,520
Colorado in the early season.
I didn't know that, and I

1532
01:50:13,520 --> 01:50:16,160
certainly didn't think that I
needed to know that.

1533
01:50:16,960 --> 01:50:24,720
It was ego that drove me there
and so my life didn't change all

1534
01:50:24,720 --> 01:50:32,400
that much afterwards.
My mom would say things to me

1535
01:50:32,440 --> 01:50:34,240
that I was frankly very
dismissive of.

1536
01:50:34,240 --> 01:50:38,680
And they were something to the
extent of, well, God must have

1537
01:50:38,680 --> 01:50:41,520
something for you to do since he
saved you.

1538
01:50:43,080 --> 01:50:46,040
And I fully recognized at the
time that I was saved.

1539
01:50:46,040 --> 01:50:48,440
There was no question to me
about that.

1540
01:50:49,680 --> 01:50:55,080
But, and, and it's, it's sad for
me to say it to you face to face

1541
01:50:55,080 --> 01:51:01,080
here, that I didn't understand
the gravity of the fact that I

1542
01:51:01,080 --> 01:51:04,680
had been saved.
I understood it intellectually,

1543
01:51:05,320 --> 01:51:07,640
but I didn't really understand
it kind of like at all at all,

1544
01:51:07,640 --> 01:51:11,720
like a a heart or a soul level,
if you want to call it that way.

1545
01:51:11,960 --> 01:51:14,080
And I'm not even talking about
it in a spiritual sense.

1546
01:51:14,080 --> 01:51:17,160
It was just like, yeah, like it
was November 7th.

1547
01:51:17,160 --> 01:51:20,320
This is what happened.
It was very factual for me.

1548
01:51:20,320 --> 01:51:25,080
There wasn't a lot of emotion
because it just was what it was.

1549
01:51:25,640 --> 01:51:35,440
And I'm very not proud of that.
But now I'm massively grateful.

1550
01:51:36,080 --> 01:51:41,480
Massively, massively, massively
grateful because I see the fact

1551
01:51:41,480 --> 01:51:46,080
that if I was dead, I would have
never been married.

1552
01:51:47,280 --> 01:51:49,240
I would have never had four
children.

1553
01:51:50,040 --> 01:51:54,240
I would have never begun to have
a real relationship with Jesus

1554
01:51:54,240 --> 01:51:57,000
Christ.
It just wouldn't have happened

1555
01:51:57,000 --> 01:52:05,080
because it wasn't until I was
31, so 12 years after this, that

1556
01:52:05,480 --> 01:52:10,200
my first born son was a full
term still birth.

1557
01:52:11,200 --> 01:52:16,840
And that is what brought me to
my knees and therefore into

1558
01:52:16,880 --> 01:52:22,880
relationship with Jesus.
And that's what changed

1559
01:52:22,880 --> 01:52:26,000
everything.
And so over the last 13 years,

1560
01:52:26,520 --> 01:52:29,160
he's given me perspective on
things.

1561
01:52:29,560 --> 01:52:34,400
Grateful heart, you know.
And now I'm like man, not.

1562
01:52:34,400 --> 01:52:41,080
Only was I physically saved by
him, as I believe through you

1563
01:52:41,640 --> 01:52:43,520
and all of the medical
professionals.

1564
01:52:43,520 --> 01:52:47,480
And I fully believe that I
believe it was him through you

1565
01:52:47,480 --> 01:52:49,160
guys.
And that if you guys are not

1566
01:52:49,160 --> 01:52:52,800
there, not only you, you know,
rescuing me, taking me to the

1567
01:52:52,800 --> 01:52:55,120
hospital, but then all of the
medical professionals, I think

1568
01:52:55,200 --> 01:52:59,640
everybody that sort of put
Humpty Dumpty back together

1569
01:52:59,640 --> 01:53:11,680
again was fully at his hand, You
know, but not only did he

1570
01:53:11,680 --> 01:53:18,120
physically save me, but he saved
me at a soul level spiritually.

1571
01:53:18,800 --> 01:53:26,360
And and then it's just begun to
recreate me like I'm so not the

1572
01:53:26,360 --> 01:53:30,040
person that I was at 19.
And I know many people can say

1573
01:53:30,040 --> 01:53:34,520
that, you know, as they get
later in life, but I also know

1574
01:53:34,520 --> 01:53:38,320
that my heart is different.
And the only thing that I can

1575
01:53:38,320 --> 01:53:43,000
attribute that to is him and his
goodness and his love.

1576
01:53:43,440 --> 01:53:49,040
And so that's, that's part of
where I got the director.

1577
01:53:49,040 --> 01:53:53,840
That's that's fully where I got
the direction from for what you

1578
01:53:53,840 --> 01:53:55,320
and I are sitting here talking
about.

1579
01:53:55,480 --> 01:54:00,360
When you look, you know, he
said, this is what I want you to

1580
01:54:00,360 --> 01:54:03,960
do.
And I'm like, OK, let's go do.

1581
01:54:04,800 --> 01:54:08,200
And he's just giving me the
blessing of this particular

1582
01:54:08,200 --> 01:54:13,360
story that we get to tell in the
25th year.

1583
01:54:14,200 --> 01:54:21,240
I mean, it's just wild 25 years
ago and we can remember it

1584
01:54:21,680 --> 01:54:26,600
vividly.
Oh, at into my end of my memory.

1585
01:54:27,280 --> 01:54:30,240
Yeah.
And yeah, the yes.

1586
01:54:31,320 --> 01:54:37,360
It's amazing.
So I give him all the glory and

1587
01:54:39,640 --> 01:54:44,560
he's my king.
I, you know, the, the, you know

1588
01:54:44,560 --> 01:54:47,160
you.
So we've talked a couple of

1589
01:54:47,160 --> 01:54:53,480
times over the 25 years and I
mean like 2, right all.

1590
01:54:53,480 --> 01:55:00,320
Over the phone.
Yes, and you know, I, you know,

1591
01:55:00,320 --> 01:55:03,400
they, you know, you told me
about, you know, your children,

1592
01:55:04,600 --> 01:55:09,560
you know, being, you know, you
know, and it's, it's, it's

1593
01:55:09,600 --> 01:55:15,720
really amazing to, you know, to,
to look at how it is that you

1594
01:55:15,720 --> 01:55:19,520
know, the the effect that you
have on other people.

1595
01:55:19,520 --> 01:55:24,280
And you never know how it is
that you're being, you know,

1596
01:55:24,280 --> 01:55:28,480
implemented as a tool.
And that's, you know, and that's

1597
01:55:28,560 --> 01:55:33,040
the, you know, that that's the
only thing that I can, that I've

1598
01:55:33,040 --> 01:55:37,080
come up with and that, you know,
I, I haven't done, you know, you

1599
01:55:37,680 --> 01:55:40,120
know, maybe I'm embarrassed to,
to, to say that.

1600
01:55:40,120 --> 01:55:43,920
And that, yeah, because I knew
this question was coming and I

1601
01:55:43,920 --> 01:55:46,000
didn't, still didn't really know
how to answer it.

1602
01:55:49,320 --> 01:55:55,240
And but, but I, I, I absolutely,
you know, see very, very clearly

1603
01:55:55,240 --> 01:56:01,160
that that, you know, that, you
know, people are used as tools

1604
01:56:01,160 --> 01:56:02,680
and, and you know, it's for
others.

1605
01:56:02,680 --> 01:56:06,120
And you just don't, you never
know what the effect is.

1606
01:56:07,320 --> 01:56:10,600
And that, you know, and that
effect can really, really ripple

1607
01:56:11,320 --> 01:56:14,440
out far beyond your
comprehension.

1608
01:56:15,760 --> 01:56:19,320
Yeah, exactly.
And I mean, I just show that

1609
01:56:19,320 --> 01:56:21,480
we're crystal, right?
I know exactly what you're

1610
01:56:21,480 --> 01:56:25,200
getting at.
There's, there's so many facets

1611
01:56:25,200 --> 01:56:27,920
to that, but it's just, I, I
think part of what you're

1612
01:56:27,920 --> 01:56:32,880
driving at is if I'm dead, which
there's a really good chance

1613
01:56:32,880 --> 01:56:37,560
that I was dead, then there
aren't four other human beings,

1614
01:56:38,800 --> 01:56:41,240
you know what I mean?
Like when we just stop, right?

1615
01:56:41,240 --> 01:56:46,400
And, and, and the potential that
flows through their life, you

1616
01:56:46,400 --> 01:56:48,080
know, our lives, you know, so I
get it.

1617
01:56:48,080 --> 01:56:54,160
Yet it's, it's a, it's a, it's a
great thing in terms of, you

1618
01:56:54,160 --> 01:56:57,080
know, the, the, those ripples
that you described and the

1619
01:56:57,080 --> 01:57:02,200
potential for ripples from what
is essentially in, in at least

1620
01:57:02,200 --> 01:57:08,680
in terms of our lifetime, your
lifetime, a moment, a moment,

1621
01:57:09,080 --> 01:57:14,200
you know what I mean, a moment
ultimately impacting multiple

1622
01:57:14,200 --> 01:57:18,600
lifetimes.
And it's really quite

1623
01:57:18,600 --> 01:57:20,680
insightful, but thank you for
sharing that.

1624
01:57:23,280 --> 01:57:28,760
Well, I appreciate you, you
know, including me in in your

1625
01:57:28,800 --> 01:57:32,480
journey of doing this.
And you know, it's, it's the,

1626
01:57:32,480 --> 01:57:37,360
it's, it's really been something
reflecting on on that event and,

1627
01:57:37,600 --> 01:57:43,960
and, and then seeing what is
what it has led to is really

1628
01:57:43,960 --> 01:57:47,480
quite incredible.
Yeah, I agree, man.

1629
01:57:47,480 --> 01:57:53,520
And I'm, I'm just so grateful
for you responding the way that

1630
01:57:53,520 --> 01:57:56,960
you did to what you describe as
kind of this, this, this feeling

1631
01:57:56,960 --> 01:58:00,600
of a, of a calling like this
temporary or momentary calling

1632
01:58:01,400 --> 01:58:07,520
and.
And you having the towel and you

1633
01:58:07,520 --> 01:58:09,720
doing 90 miles an hour, you know
what I mean?

1634
01:58:09,720 --> 01:58:14,640
Like it's.
I, I mean that, you know, it,

1635
01:58:14,680 --> 01:58:19,760
it's, it's not lost on me.
And I don't want this to be lost

1636
01:58:19,760 --> 01:58:27,680
on anybody that hears this story
that for no reason you get off

1637
01:58:27,680 --> 01:58:32,920
on the Bakerville exit.
And folks, you can go look at

1638
01:58:32,920 --> 01:58:37,960
the Bakersville exit on I-70 on
Google Maps right now in

1639
01:58:37,960 --> 01:58:41,200
Colorado, and you can see that
there's nothing there.

1640
01:58:42,320 --> 01:58:45,840
So, so there was nothing there
25 years ago and there's nothing

1641
01:58:45,840 --> 01:58:48,960
there now.
So essentially like Steve was

1642
01:58:48,960 --> 01:58:51,080
saying, there's really no reason
to get off other than you were

1643
01:58:51,200 --> 01:58:54,800
approaching the Eisenhower
Tunnel and then it's many

1644
01:58:54,800 --> 01:58:58,880
additional minutes before you'd
be able to turn around and then

1645
01:58:58,880 --> 01:59:04,160
you drove 3 full miles.
You again, you get everybody,

1646
01:59:04,160 --> 01:59:13,120
you can see this on a map 3 full
miles up a snow covered dirt

1647
01:59:13,120 --> 01:59:23,040
road and essentially for, for
for no good reason, right, other

1648
01:59:23,040 --> 01:59:25,240
than I got to keep going because
then I'm going to eventually be

1649
01:59:25,240 --> 01:59:29,800
able to turn around knowing as
you said, I must have been, I

1650
01:59:29,800 --> 01:59:32,320
couldn't have been more than 1/4
of a mile in and realized.

1651
01:59:32,320 --> 01:59:33,920
This was a bad.
Idea.

1652
01:59:35,360 --> 01:59:41,640
And here you and I sit, and I am
so thankful that you kept going.

1653
01:59:41,640 --> 01:59:45,160
And I mean that.
Thank you.

1654
01:59:45,600 --> 01:59:46,760
You're welcome.
Thank you.

1655
01:59:46,760 --> 01:59:52,680
And, and I'm thankful that that
I was able to be of service to

1656
01:59:52,680 --> 01:59:55,640
give you a ride on that day.
Yeah.

1657
01:59:56,600 --> 02:00:00,600
Me too Steve.
It has been a real pleasure.

1658
02:00:00,600 --> 02:00:04,040
Thank you so much for just for
for going through all the

1659
02:00:04,040 --> 02:00:10,640
details and doing what you did.
Thank you for being on the show.

1660
02:00:10,720 --> 02:00:13,840
Thank you for this momento I am
eternally grateful.

1661
02:00:14,320 --> 02:00:16,400
Appreciate you being on.
Thank you.

1662
02:00:20,760 --> 02:00:25,960
Was it coincidence or God?
You decide for yourself, but I

1663
02:00:25,960 --> 02:00:29,760
believe you just heard a story
for His glory.

1664
02:00:30,520 --> 02:00:35,200
When You Look is powered by
stories just like this and yours

1665
02:00:35,200 --> 02:00:39,280
could be next.
Go to whenyoulook.com/be a guest

1666
02:00:39,520 --> 02:00:41,720
or use the link in the
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1667
02:00:42,280 --> 02:00:46,600
Drop us a comment and share this
episode with somebody that needs

1668
02:00:46,600 --> 02:00:49,560
it.
Until next time, thanks a bunch

1669
02:00:49,560 --> 02:00:52,360
for listening and watching, and
God bless.