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TIMING IS EVERYTHING

When it's your time, it's just your time.

Maybe if he had 60 half-liters of beer at his disposal, he'd be alive today...

San Mateo man dies in avalanche
Snowboarder's change of plans had saved him from tsunami

Bay Area native Daniel Berk had planned to spend the Christmas holiday in Sri Lanka, getting his scuba certificate, but canceled his plans at the last minute. He missed the deadly tsunami, but on Saturday, he was killed in an avalanche while snowboarding off-trail in the Austrian Alps.

Berk, 31, who grew up in San Mateo, had been living in Munich as a consultant for Intel Corp. for several years and was scheduled to be transferred back to the Bay Area in March, said his sister Valerie Berni of Tigard, Ore.

He had taken up snowboarding while living in Germany and frequently visited the Alps. On Saturday, he was snowboarding in the Austrian Alps with three friends who were above him on the mountain and saw him overtaken by the avalanche, Berni said.

The avalanche, which the Associated Press said had a width of about 300 yards, occurred at about 7,550 feet in an off-trail area in the western province of Tyrol. The AP said the area was "popular with thrill-seekers looking for deep, untouched powder."

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