Story highlights A skier was buried under snow after triggering avalancheAvalanche safety instructor happened to arrive on the scene(CNN) A backcountry skier in Colorado had some pretty good luck this week after triggering an avalanche that swept him over a 25-foot cliff and buried him under four feet of snow. The avalanche blocked a stretch of Highway 550 between the towns of Silverton and Durango on Monday. Here's where the luck comes in. One of the people stuck behind the avalanche was an avalanche educator at the Silverton Avalanche School and a veteran of what's called heli-skiing, in which skiers are flown via helicopter to remote, untouched slopes. Michael Barney and his wife, Sallie, were driving home from Durango when they happened upon the scene just minutes after avalanche.

Source: CNN January 13, 2017 19:41 UTC