Technology and Intuition Play Key Roles in Avalanche Survival
March 6, 2026
In a remarkable survival story, a Washington man overcame dire circumstances after being trapped for over four hours under avalanche debris at a ski resort. His wife’s quick thinking and a smartphone app were instrumental in his rescue.
Michael Harris / Photos via Fox13 Seattle
Michael Harris, an experienced skier, was on the familiar slopes of Stevens Pass when a sudden avalanche caught him off guard.
While navigating Big Chief Bowl, Harris encountered a perilous situation as the snow gave way beneath him.
“Because I was on skis I got caught between two slabs,” Harris explained.
Determined to escape the avalanche’s grip, he utilized a swimming technique to stay above the snow, but the force proved overpowering.
He narrowly missed a boulder before ending up in a small snow cavity, where he was soon covered by the avalanche.
Trapped and immobilized, Harris couldn’t access his Apple Watch or iPhone for help.
Then came an unexpected lifeline.
His phone started ringing.
“Signed, sealed and delivered right here over my heart,” Harris said about the phone in his jacket. “My wife was calling me. I felt it vibrate. I could hear it ring… yet my hand couldn’t get to it.”
Enveloped in snow, Harris began reflecting on his loved ones.
Encased in darkness, he turned to prayer.
“I’m a religious guy,” he said. “I said, ‘God, I’m in trouble. I don’t know if anyone is going to know where I’m at, but I can’t get out of this on my own.’”
At home, Penny, his wife, was suddenly uneasy.
“You get a feeling something’s just not right,” she said. “I followed my intuition.”
Utilizing the Find My iPhone app, she checked her husband’s location multiple times.
It was stationary.
Concerned, Penny alerted the ski patrol and headed to Stevens Pass.
On arrival, rescuers used the phone’s GPS data to locate Harris precisely.
Penny prepared herself for the worst.
“I was sitting there, just waiting to find my husband, anticipating the retrieval of a body,” she admitted.
But the search revealed a stunning development.
Harris was alive.
Despite the prolonged entrapment, he had a beach ball-sized air pocket that sustained him.
With the phone’s coordinates, ski patrol extracted him from the snow.
He awoke in an ambulance with severe hypothermia, a fluid-filled lung, and a broken leg.
The ordeal left him with a newfound perspective.
“I would not have believed this story if I hadn’t lived through it myself,” Harris reflected. “I’ve been blessed. I have a second chance. I thought I was leading a good life, but I want to lead an even better one.”
After five days in the hospital, Harris returned home to his family.
His daughter recalled the moment she heard her father was missing.
“The first words my mom said were, ‘Your dad is missing,’” she wrote. “My heart sank… I felt like I was going to vomit.”
When the news came that he was found, it was a moment of profound relief.
“It is a true miracle that he survived,” she expressed. “I have been thanking God since the incident that he is still here with us.”
His miraculous survival earned Harris a nickname at the hospital.
“The miracle avalanche man.”
To Harris, the credit is clear.
“She’s the best,” he said about Penny. “She’s my lifesaver.”
Now, Harris is intent on cherishing his family, faith, and the second chance he has received.
