Movie Review— Buried: The Alpine Meadows Avalanche

By James P. Sweeney

TNews Contributor

My name is Jim Plein. I was the avalanche forecaster for Alpine Meadows Ski Resort. Jim's lips move, his teeth are crooked, he clears his throat and sighs but he says nothing for 15 seconds. He closes his eyes–the lens moves closer. He’s wrinkled gray, has a buzz cut, a goatee  and wears a Patagonia fleece coat. He takes his time and says, So maybe I’ll cut here for a minute.

I press pause. I know this story and twenty-two words into the movie, it hits me like an avalanche.

The movie moves to the intro. The actors narrate the story though we don’t know them yet. They talk about the giant storm. The wind howled. The sound of snow moving on snow. The specialness of the snow on the surface. This storm is more powerful and different than anything they've ever experienced. They stand on a monster. A big avalanche whitens the screen.

Ski patrollers prepare dynamite with fuses and duct tape. An old TV news clip says another body was found today and they show a toboggan with what looks like a body in it. The announcer says six victims have been found. One is still missing. A bashed up large building flashes past. Giant piles of packed avalanche snow are everywhere. 

The movie introduces the players. Larry Haywood, assistant Ski Patrol leader for Alpine Meadows. Lanny Johnson ski patrol. Sandy Harris lift operator. Meredith Watson was the only woman on ski patrol. She says,”It’s a male dominated world, but the idea of blowing things up appealed to me.”

The movie glamorizes ski patrolling, dope smoking, drinking and cocaine is lined up on a mirror. Military howitzers and the big bullets fill the screen. Alyeska and Alpine Meadows are two of the few ski resorts with these guns. Ski bumming is life. 

This movie conjures up my time in Girdwood and on Ski Patrol. It brings back the memories of the Stumpy Storm and the avalanche safety personnel who keep Alyeska Resort, the Seward Highway and the Alaska Railroad safe. The Stumpy Storm and the Alpine Meadow’s storm are similar in some ways. The Stumpy Storm closed the Seward Highway and cut off Girdwood for five days. Alpine Meadows searched for the missing avalanche victims for five days.

We were mostly lucky in Alaska except when Kerry Brookman, a plow driver for the Alaska Railroad was smashed and killed by an avalanche. I can remember like it was yesterday when one of the avalanche technicians told me they threw a quarter ton of bombs from a helicopter and couldn’t keep up with the falling and blowing snow before Kerry was taken out by the avalanche.

This is a documentary. The actors lived the experience and they share it incredibly well. The movie was made by two Alpine Meadows locals and was made with love. This could be us.

I watched the movie on Netflix.