A skier describes what it’s like to survive an avalanche. The unidentified man was skiing late Friday morning on a steep slope near Independence Lake, north of Truckee when it happened. The skier tells the Sierra Avalanche Center they made several mistakes, but is lucky to be alive. He suffered only some bruising and a small cut. Around the same time, an avalanche 20 miles north in Alpine Meadows killed Cole Comstock of California, and seriously injured another person.