Stevens Pass Avalanches Leave 4 Dead: Elyse Saugstad Recounts Washington Tragedy

High avalanche warnings had already been issued for some areas in and around the Stevens Pass ski resort Sunday morning, and both the snowboarder and group of skiers on the mountain that day were navigating in an out-of-bounds areas.

But for them, it was just another day out on the slopes. Most of the people in the second group were local experts, and had skied across the back-country valley many times before.

Professional skier Elyse Saugstad was one of them. In an interview with The Vancouver Sun, Saugstad said her group had been following back-country protocol all morning. Each skied with a buddy, and crossed the slopes one at a time.

'It's White the Entire Way'

Suddenly, however, the snow started sliding.

Saugstad's buddy started the alarm: "Avalanche!" To Saugstad, it only felt like a tiny rush of loose snow running beneath her feet.

In the next instant, she was slammed so heavily with snow that she was tumbling down the slope, rolling over and banging into debris under the weight and pressure of the deadly force.

"I was taking more than a 2,000-foot ride down an avalanche, tumbling and turning and tossing the entire way," Saugstad told the Sun.

Thinking fast, the professional skier immediately pulled the lever on her avalanche safety backpack. An airbag inside is designed to lift the skier above the avalanche to avoid being buried in the snow.