SUMMIT COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) – A snowshoer in Breckenridge is thankful to be alive after he said an avalanche was triggered and tumbled his way on Red Mountain.

“There is a hike right by my house that really no one knows about because it’s a private neighborhood,” Ismael Calle, who lives in Breckenridge, said.

Calle and his dog headed up on Sunday. He said after they went over the false summit and continued uphill, he noticed the snow at the top starting to move.

“I took a few more steps, then I noticed the whole mountain was sliding down towards me,” Calle said. “I have never seen anything like that before. I’ve only seen it in movies.”

Calle said his first reaction was to turn around and run the other way, but the snowshoes didn’t make it easy.

“I turned around and tripped and I struggled to get my head out of the snow. Then I looked back and the snow had stopped a few feet from me,” Calle said.

Calle and his dog Trumpet continued down the mountain following their previous path in the snow. Once they made it to a safe spot, Calle was able to grab pictures of the avalanche up above.

“I’m definitely going to do some avalanche training now,” Calle said.

He and Trumpet he said have done this path several times both in the winter and summer but for some reason on Sunday’s hike up, he said Trumpet was acting funny.

“He was a little bit afraid and I thought that is weird cause he loves the snow and he is usually pulling me up,” Calle said. “Either he knew there was a risk for an avalanche ahead or just a lot of snow ahead.”

It wasn’t until Calle got back home he learned about the skier who died in a back country avalanche the same day.

“It was one of those close calls. Someone told me – sometimes close calls are wake up calls,” Calle said.