Buried: The true story of the 1982 Alpine Meadows avalanche

With Buried: The 1982 Alpine Meadows Avalanche hitting the Netflix top 10 chart, here’s what you need to know about the shocking true story behind the documentary. 

Netflix has produced a number of hit documentaries in 2023, many of which draw viewers in with unfolding true crime cases. Escaping Twin Flames, Take Care of Maya, and Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal Season 2 are just a few recent examples. 

But this week, Netflix’s top 10 movies chart has seen the entry of an older documentary, one that examines one of the most devastating natural disasters in North American ski resort history. 

Buried: The true story of the 1982 Alpine Meadows arrived in 2021, but it has since landed on the streaming platform, where many subscribers are learning about the shocking event for the first time. Here’s what happened on that fateful day. 

Buried: The true story of the 1982 Alpine Meadows avalanche

The Alpine Meadows avalanche on March 31, 1982, occurred after a spring storm dumped nearly 90 inches of snow on the Californian ski resort, exacerbating the already substantial snowpack. At 3:45pm, a colossal wave of snow, released from the Poma Rocks and surrounding terrain, obliterated the resort’s lower Summit Chair and terminal building, resulting in seven fatalities.

Among the victims was 22-year-old Anna Conrad, an Alpine Meadows lift operator who survived with severe frostbite, and her boyfriend, Frank Yeatman, who perished alongside her. The mountain manager, Bernie Kingery, an experienced avalanche controller, was also killed in the Base 4 Room, the headquarters for avalanche forecasting. 

Others engulfed by the slide were Randy Buck, Tad DeFelice, Jeff Skover, and Beth Morrow, who were with Kingery, and Jake Smith, Dr. Leroy Nelson, his daughter Laura, and David Hahn, who were outside near the lodge.

Speaking to reporters later, Buck – who suffered broken ribs and fractured vertebrae – said (via Tahoetopia): “When the snow stopped moving, I was about one and a half feet under. II heaved my body up and got my head and shoulders out of the snow. I realized Tad was next to me. His head and shoulders were also free. I looked around. I was still in the room, but it no longer had any walls.”

The rescue operation commenced swiftly, with over 100 searchers combing through the wreckage, working through the night with only headlamps in a landscape unrecognizable, strewn with 15 feet of snow and debris. 

It was a desperate race against time to locate survivors in the freezing conditions. The magnitude of the disaster was overwhelming, with the rescue teams having to be snow-catted into the area due to the obliterated roads. 

Despite the exhaustive efforts, only Conrad and a few others were pulled out alive from the catastrophe. Conrad’s survival was deemed a miracle, especially since she wasn’t found for five days. 

She had been shielded by a collapsed wall that formed a protective air pocket around her. The searchers’ commitment was relentless, and the discovery of survivors provided a poignant moment of triumph amidst the tragedy.

Buried: The 1982 Alpine Meadows Avalanche is available to stream on Netflix now, and you can check out more of our documentary coverage below: 

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