Moose freed from abalanche debris after sliding several thousand feet

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A moose caught in an avalanche in Hatcher Pass may have three passing snowmachiners to thank for making it into the new year.

The men dug the moose -- a young cow, they think -- out of the snow, apparently unharmed, after it was caught in an avalanche Dec. 28. One of the men, Marty Mobley, 44, said the moose probably caused the slide that swallowed it and that without the group's help, it would not have survived.

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Mobley said he and friends Rob Uphus, 30, and Avery Vucinich, 27 -- all of them Valley residents -- had gone snowmachining on the Willow side of Hatcher Pass, about 55 miles northeast of Anchorage, in an area known to locals as "God's Country." They rode carefully, he said, because of the constant fear of avalanches. Mobley's best friend, Aaron Arthur, was killed along with five others while snowmachining in Turnagain Pass on March 21, 1999.

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"It slid at least 1,500 to 2,000 feet down the mountain when it got caught in the avalanche," Mobley said.

Mobley said the trio look on their moose rescue as an act that they hope will be repaid by nature as they continue to ride their snowmachines in Alaska's often unpredictable backcountry.

"I am an animal lover, and I couldn’t leave it there," Mobley said. "Besides, we deal with a lot of avalanches and a lot of snow. That kind of karma is something we don’t pass up."

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