A little bit about myself: I'm a student and working in Tucson, Ariz., right now. I'm going through the business program at the University of Arizona.

I like to take big trips with friends because I try to make the most of life right now. Last year [my friends and I] went on a ski trip to Telluride, Colo., and had a great time. It was awesome, so we went this year again with some more of our friends.

Reliving the night of January 6

There were 10 of us all together. We went skiing, and I was so excited that I didn't get hurt skiing—and then I got in a bus wreck. What are the odds? It was just kind of like one of those freak things that happens to you in life.

Basically what happened is on Sunday, which is the day we left from Telluride, there was this big snow storm that was coming through, and we could have been snowed in. So we were kind of debating on whether to leave or just to stay in Telluride. Finally we said, "You know, I think we can make it." One of the girls who was with us had kind of a funny feeling—she kept saying, "I don't know about this." I think we all had kind of a weird feeling about it before we left, but we were like, "Well, we're going to try it." We wanted to beat the storm out.

This all happened a while ago, so I'm bringing it all back . . . I'm trying to remember.

So we ended up putting chains on the bus tires and we made it through the snowy mountains just fine. We took the chains off, which took awhile, but then we were just cruisin' back home. Then the roads split, and there were two routes we could go. I think there were 20 buses total, and 17 went one way and three went the other. We were one of the three that took this notorious pass; it was previously called Highway 666, and then they changed the name for obvious reasons. Now it's called Mexican Hat area or something like that. So it's like this notorious road that you're not supposed to go on, especially at night with a bus.