Avalanche survivor: 'We did everything we could' for buried

(CNN) -- Wiping tears from his cheeks, a man who survived avalanches that killed eight snowmobilers in western Canada said Wednesday that he and two others tried to save their friends but eventually left the mountain because of the threat of more slides.

Jeffrey Adams, with his his fiancée at his side, said he and the two other survivors "did everything we could to try to save" the eight Sunday.

"They died doing what they loved. ... I'm truly sorry to the families that we couldn't find them," Adams said.

Adams described digging himself out after the avalanches struck the group Sunday in British Columbia about 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) east of Fernie, a town in the Canadian Rockies about 300 kilometers (186 miles) southwest of Calgary, Alberta.

Both avalanches left him buried but near the surface, he said. He was able to dig himself out, choking on snow, and free a second companion without gloves or gear. Watch Adams describe digging himself, others out »

Adams and six others had been snowmobiling near the base of a mountain when the first avalanche happened, he said. The avalanche buried him for "a minute or two," but he was able to free himself.

He started digging for a companion as another group of four people showed up to help, Adams said. One called 911 on a transmitter.

But then they heard a crack, and a second slide buried all 11 of them, Adams said. Miraculously, he said, only 8 to 10 inches of snow covered him.

"When I opened my eyes, I could see daylight," he said. "I was digging. I managed to get my mouth free. I was already choking. I took a few breaths. After about five minutes of struggling, I got myself out, looked around and realized there wasn't anybody else -- couldn't see any sleds, no gear, nothing."

He yelled for his friends and heard an answer, and he was able to dig out one man, whom he identified as Jeremy. The two were working on freeing a third man, James, when they heard another crack.

"We said, 'Sorry, James, we've got to run,' " Adams remembered tearfully. "As we were running away from James, he was saying, 'Don't leave me here! Don't leave me here!' We kept saying we're sorry. We went off and sat to the side, and the slide never hit us in the area we were in. We just got the snow cloud. We went back in and finally got James out."

But then the three looked around and saw no one. They considered getting the one snowmobile that wasn't struck by the avalanche, but determined that the area was too unsafe.

"That's when we had to make the gut-wrenching decision to leave our eight friends and start walking off the mountain," an emotional Adams said.

The group had walked for about 10 minutes and was thinking of going back, but when he turned to look, "the whole center of the mountain came down" in a fourth avalanche.

"We just decided our best bet was to keep walking," he said. They were hoping for a helicopter in response to the earlier 911 call, he said, and one eventually arrived and picked them up.

Searchers found seven bodies Monday and the eighth Tuesday. Royal Canadian Mounted Police identified the dead as Danny Bjarnason, 28; Kane Rusnak, 30; Warren Rothel, 33; Michael Stier, 20; Len Stier, 45; Blayne Wilson, 26; Kurt Kabel, 28; and Thomas Talarico, 32.

Adams and the other two survivors, James and Jeremy -- whose last names and ages were not given -- suffered minor injuries. One was hospitalized overnight.

"It's hard," Adams said. "I replay it in my head all the time whether it was the right decision or not."

He said he had spoken with the families of most of the other men.

"So far, all of them are supporting our decision to leave," he said. "It was a hard one, to leave eight guys up there."

He described the victims as "good buddies," his voice breaking.

Experts told him the second avalanche hit the group at 150 kph (93 mph), Adams said. He estimated the wall of snow was 15 feet high.

He said members of the group knew the avalanche danger was high, and that's why they weren't climbing the mountain.

Even buried under a few inches of snow, "you don't know what way is up and what is down," he said.

"You can't move. You simply can't move in it," Adams said.

The snowmobilers were from Sparwood, British Columbia. They were in an area called Harvey Pass, which police called "a popular backcountry snowmobile destination."

Sparwood Mayor David Wilks said all the victims were upstanding citizens who worked as businessmen or in coal mines.

The mayor said temperatures were as low as minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit in recent weeks, though the air had warmed to 25 degrees Fahrenheit. The warmer temperatures could melt and loosen packed snow, raising the danger of avalanches.

All About Natural Disasters • British Columbia • Canada