na na na) (la la na na -- la la la la la na na na na na) ♪ tonight on "nightline," a terrifying look at what it's like to be buried alive. six people dead in the past week, and the west on high alert. if you get caught in an avalanche, it's a fight for survival with the clock ticking. is there a way out? we're deep inside the dramatic rescues. and midnight magic. ethan hawke and julie delpy are falling in love again. will oscar share that loving feeling for their film "before midnight"? the stars open up about onscreen chemistry and offscreen heartaches for our series "oscar confidential." plus v-day by the numbers. the average person will spend well over $100 this friday on candy, cards and more. but that's nothing for the

estimated 6 million people who are planning, or at least expecting, a marriage proposal. keep it right here, america. "nightline" is back in 60 seconds.

from new york city, this is "nightline" with dan abrahams. good evening. and thanks for joining us. tonight, large parts of the country are yet again bracing for a major cold front this record-breaking winter. but in the colorado rockies where mother nature can turn deadly in a matter of seconds, they're on high alert for avalanches right now. the rescue teams can mean the difference between life and death. so what's it like to be trapped in an avalanche? abc's clayton sandell ventured west to find out. >> reporter: this is what an avalanche looks like. in a terrifying closeup.

a snowmobiler triggers a slide. seconds later, it catches up with him. instantly, he is buried. he survives, but tonight, with avalanche deaths on the rise -- two more dead now in oregon -- and nearly the entire west on high alert, we journeyed deep into the colorado rockies. to find out what it's like to be caught and rescued from the rush of a raging avalanche. 12,000 feet up, i'm about to be buried alive. are you going to be able to hear me? >> no. >> not at all? >> not at all. >> okay. all right, here we go. >> from the moment i'm locked in a claustrophobic snow coffin, going to be drk in here -- the entrance sealed, the clock is ticking.

>> the further you get towards this rope line, the deeper the snow is. >> reporter: for the team "nightline" came here to meet. the men and women bravely taking on one of mother nature's most powerful natural forces. for a potentially life-saving rescue drill. it's already been a deadly avalanche winter with 12 people killed in the u.s., six in just the last few days. and statistics tell us about 20 more will die this season. edwin lamare was almost one of them. >> [ bleep ]. that's edwin in an avalanche! >> reporter: his brother davis was recording this dramatic video in december. as edwin is suddenly swept away. edwin, only his head visible, can barely breathe. snow traps him like hard cement. >> the point being, the longer you're under there, and the trouble is, you can't breathe. people think that, i mean, you look at this snow here.

i mean, it's fluffy white. but what happens after an avalanche? >> it kind of turns into this. try to hold this thing up. it's pretty heavy. >> this is like concrete almost. >> it's exactly like concrete. when the snow starts to avalanche, it starts getting churned up. heat, pressure, and everything, it bonds together real tight and it just locks up like concrete. >> okay. >> there's another great avalanche right here. >> reporter: there are 1 million acres of avalanche terrain in colorado. mostly in places roads don't go. >> nice avalanche here. it is at least a couple of days old. >> reporter: our guide is veteran pilot patrick maheny. >> the avalanche i'm going to show you is right about my 2:00. you can see where the snow let go. >> oh, yeah, yeah. >> when disaster strikes, he and flight for life colorado get the call. and dozens of professional and volunteer avalanchers assemble.

>> we can get to a real remote location like we're coming up to here in the ten-mile range in a matter of minutes, whereas a hiking team hiking in would take hours. snowmobile would take maybe hours if you could even get a snowmobile up there. >> getting further away now. >> reporter: in our drill, 28-year-old amanda slater, a copper mountain ski patroller, is one of the first on scene. her partner, 4-year-old reko, specially trained to sniff out victims buried under the snow. they've been a team for three years. we're beginning our search right now. i can see debris down here. looks like a ski over there. >> reporter: six feet under, i wait, trapped. >> very claustrophobic and a little unnerving to be in here. it's dark. i can't see very well. and to think a real avalanche victim would have far less room, would not be able to move around, and probably wouldn't be able to breathe -- really is

terrifying. john rellor has been rescuing avalanche victims for nearly three decades. >> you can try to swim, try to fight to stay on the surface, grab a tree. there are certain avalanches that you can't do a thing. you're at the mercy of the power of the avalanche. and you're just along for the ride. your best bet is education and the right equipment and not being in the wrong place at the wrong time. >> like darth vader in here. >> reporter: for most of us, 75ing a record-breaking winter means dressing warmly in layers, protecting hands and feet and staying hydrated. in avalanche country, extra safety gear is critical. like these air bags. and emergency beacons. >> you can hear it's telling you there's a beacon right now that's 19 meters away. and we just go towards that signal. and make it get smaller. and then start proning. >> reporter: if the area is too big to cover on foot, maheny swoops in to search from the air. avalanche forecasters are in a

nonstop race to perfect the science of predicting when and where a slide might start. the key ingredient, a weak layer of snow, a danger often invisible from above. >> the problem is, all of this strong snow is resting down here on this very weak sugary snow. so all we've got to do is find a shallow part of the snow pack, collapse the snow, and then you can see how wide and deep these avalanches are breaking. a slide like this has got devastating consequences. these are bone crushing, tree snapping, we're not coming home to our families kinds of avalanches. if a victim hasn't been found after 15 minutes, the chances for surviving rapidly drop. i've been down here for about 15 minutes now. even if something were to happen to me down here, they wouldn't be able to hear me yell and i can't hear what's going on on the surface. i'm hoping the dog is close. >> looks like he's got something.

>> reporter: thankfully, she is. >> my hero, my hero, hello! good boy. >> are you hurt at all? >> i'm okay. it's hard to breathe down here. okay. i'm rescued. time for me to get out of here. well, that for a drill was terrifying. the humans on the team know their mission is deadly serious. but it's different for dogs like reko and 6-year-old copper. >> it's all a game for her. and so for her and for every other avalanche dog, this is the most fun game in the world. and when they find someone in the avalanche, they get the best reward ever. and so we have special rewards that we use for them that they only get when they find a person in an of a large. >> reporter: what is it?

>> ours is a flippy flopper. what is this? what do you do for this? huh? what do you do for this? yeah? >> she knows. >> is this the best toy ever? oh, good girl! oh, good girl! oh, yes, thank you. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm clayton sandell in the colorado rockies. >> scary stuff. thanks, clayton. next, it's a love for the ages. we're with oscar nominated "before midnight" costars ethan hawke and julie delpy. julie delpy.

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for most celebrities looking back on their early work is likely as nostalgic as it is cringe inducing. but for ethan hawke and julie delphy, the latest chapter is up for an oscar. yuju chang sat down with the stars of "before midnight" for another look at a hyper real

love story for our series "oscar confidential." >> imagine growing older with the ever so hip and handsome ethan hawke and the luminous julie lelpy. they fell in love in "before sun rise." >> check out the town. it will be fun. >>'ll they reunite in paris with passion in their 30s "before sunset." and now, not quite middle aged, we witness them wrestle with the cold realities of happily ever after in "before midnight." >> what about me would you like to change? >> but in all three of these movies, life gets in the way of love. >> it's not just in these three movies. >> dang. >> did you want to kiss me? >> reporter: the movies have attracted legions of fans, in part because they feel so much

like real life. >> it feels so real. >> we try to get to a place in those films, you know, trying to find the right -- you know, the right balance of, you know, something that rings true but at the same time, it's totally fictional. >> reporter: the trilogy follows the star crossed lovers thaz stroll through various idyllic european backdrops. >> sometimes i feel like you're breathing helium and i'm breathing oxygen. >> what makes you say that? >> some scenes are up to 12 minutes long. >> some of the hardest in the film are the walking and talking. >> reporter: the films have encompassed a career project for the american and french stars. they were first cast in "before sunrise" when they were both in their early 20s. >> yeah, we were young. neither one of us have a wrimpgle in the world. but we watch it and i remember how insecure we felt being that

age. >> both now are in their 40s and their lives on screen and off have deepened. >> if we're meeting for the first time today on a train, would you find me attractive? >> of course. >> both delpy and hawke have had successful careers throughout the 20-year narrative arc of the movie. delpy is a director and musician in her own right. while hawke went on to star in blockbusters like "gatica" and was nominated for an oscar in "training day." >> thanks for the help. >> reporter: but it's hawke's personal life that has brought most of the attention. his marriage and divorce to uma thurmsdamasdaman and then remara woman who worked briefly as the nanny. all that emotional depth they bring to their on screen characters. part of that is showing the consequences of following your dreams. in this case, jesse sending his

son back to the united states after a summer custody thing. >> i told you this whole thing would be great. >> and it was. >> i love you, pal. >> love you, too, dad. >> reporter: it's an emotion hawke knows all too well. >> every year after the summer. if you're a dad, you finally get some big, bulk time. and as the end of the summer approaches, it's like a rain cloud builds up. and it's like picking off a scab and watching it bleed again every time. >> reporter: delpy and hawke are not only the stars of the film, they also co-directed it. how do you three write these scripts in how does that work? >> we sit here for days and days and weeks and weeks on end and we basically make fun of each other for about ten hours a day. >> reporter: as a young director, linkleiter was heralded with his hit "dazed and

confused." >> that's what i love about these high schoolgirl, man. i get older, they stay the same age. >> reporter: now 20 years later, he's matured, just like celine and jesse. >> they were both able to get off a train. oh, okay, i'm not doing anything for the next two weeks. i guess i can. but you get older, you get responsibilities, you might have a job. you have people waiting on you. you have dependents. these are bigger choices. >> reporter: no matter what age, it's their chemistry that keeps viewers coming back for more. >> the truth is we are a bit more comfortable with each other than a lot of people would be. because we're friends. but at the same time, there's something about friends that makes you a little bit about oh, my god, ethan is touching my breast, what is going on? >> reporter: fans hope that "before midnight" isn't the end of jesse and celine's love story. >> we met 18 years ago. we kind of sort of fell in love. >> it's not common that

co-actors co-write a movie together and do it three times. >> and it's not common that two people like that continue to look so good. thanks juju. next, why the creator of flap pi birds pulled the game. and what desperate fan are doing to buy back their birds. spokesperson: we decided to settle this. a steel cage death match of midsize sedans. the volkswagen passat against all comers. turbocharged engines against...engines. best in class rear legroom against other-class legroom. but then we realized. consumers already did that. twice. huh. maybe that's why nobody else showed up. how does one get out of a death cage? vo: right now, get 0.9% apr on all passat models plus a total of $1000 in bonuses.

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>> derek jeter is in the final year of a four-year, $60 million contract. he announced that 2014 will be his final season playing major league baseball. say, quote, the one thing i always said to myself was that when baseball started to feel more like a job, it would be time to move forward. the legendary athlete reflected on some of his milestones. and he reached his 3,000th hit

in 2011. >> history with an exclamation point. >> and the inventor of flappy bird game has pulled it from the app store. why? it was too addictive to according to its creator. he said, i couldn't sleep. this as he was reportedly making $50,000 a day after it became the number one game in itune. now addicts in withdrawal are racing to ebay where some are selling their phones with flappy bird installed. and finally americans will be saying goodbye to lots of money for valentine's day. retamers estimate that the average person spends between $133 and a whopping $210 bucks on v-day swag. it's an unscientific survey, but it makes us feel poorer just thinking about it. 200 million roses expected to be delivered. and don't forget the over $4.50

a typical pet owner shells out to unleash his or her unbridled love for fido. for others, it's a day to dream about much bigger gifts. like ever lasting love. 6 million people are planning, or expecting, a proposal. and if all 6 million do get engaged on valentine's day, that will be almost half the total of number of people expected to get engaged in all of 2014. quite a day. thank you for watching abc news. "world news now" is coming up soon with braenging overnight news. as always, we're on line at abcnews.com. good night.

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