BRUNSWICK

A Brunswick resident and businessman who went out on his skis Sunday in Mount Washington’s Tuckerman Ravine quickly found himself in the middle of an avalanche.

Kaj Huld, owner of Breakaway Energy Services, said he went out for a little recreation time on the Northeast’s tallest mountain. When he arrived, Huld said there were other people there, including a group he believed were involved in an avalanche training exercise.

An Associated Press report stated two hikers and another skier were also involved in the 100-foot-wide avalanche.

“Two Canadian guys, I’m told, created the avalanche and somebody from up there yelled. So I heard that and it gave me a couple of seconds to try to get out of the way of it,” Huld said.

Huld said the avalanche carried him a couple hundred feet down the mountain. He said those above him, probably up about 800 feet, traveled much farther than him.

“I was a little floored. I guess I was very surprised that that’s the spot I got myself into — I couldn’t believe that was happening to me. Then I just braced myself up at that point. There were rocks and stuff and that’s what gets you around there,” Huld said of his unexpected ride.

Huld said he felt much like a pin at a bowling alley as the snow tossed him around. He said the people up top probably felt more like the rug was gently being pulled out from underneath them, while his introduction to the avalanche was getting walloped by a giant pile of rushing snow.

“I couldn’t even tell you what happened in there,” Huld said.

When it was all over, Huld said his legs were buried but he was able to kick his way out of the snow. He said there were some mobility problems with his leg that only turned out to be a big bruise and his skis were gone. Huld was placed in a litter and treated nearby.

Huld said he’s very cognizant of avalanche hazards and ample warnings are posted. Huld said it’s the nature of that part of the mountain, where windblown snow settles in the ravine waiting for gravity to do its thing.

“I only have myself to blame. It wasn’t my best move to be underneath people up there at all,” Huld said.

dmcintire@timesrecord.com