Sandy begins clawing at the snow directly above the spot where Seybert is buried. It takes Sandy about two minutes to pinpoint Seybert's location. It takes him less than a minute to dig down to her snow cave. When he breaks through, Seybert rewards him with a glove, which he gleefully runs off with and proceeds to shred. Meanwhile, Robertson widens the hole that Sandy started, and Seybert climbs out.
Fast action is critical in a rescue situation where every minute counts.
Rescuers estimate that they typically have no more than 30 minutes to find and save an avalanche victim. Given the remoteness of many avalanche sites, that rarely happens. More often, dogs find corpses. Burnett recalls a poignant rescue attempt she and Hasty went on years ago near Aspen. A man and his little dog were overdue.