When the car came to its abrupt halt, David and June weren't sure how deep in the pile of snow they were. Having had some avalanche training while skiing in the back country, June wanted to make an air pocket to last them until they were rescued. But as David began pushing the snow away through his broken window, he could see daylight. "I said, 'We're going to be okay. We've got air,'" David says. "Because I knew that people would be coming for us. We had enough air then to survive."

After several minutes, David managed to free himself from his seatbelt and crawl out the window. He went to the other side of the car to help dig June's head out of the snow that was still piling around her. Still, she was trapped. "June's head was trapped by the roof that had caved in," David says. "Her weight was pushing her down more and more."

By that point, spectators were gathering. "I screamed, 'Call 911 and somebody get me a knife. Get me a knife now!'" David says. Finally, David managed to cut his wife free, helping her and Gary out of the car.