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Steamboat Springs — Shortly after getting four stitches removed from under her nose Friday, 5-year-old Claire Fisher still was unfazed at being run over in a snow machine accident a week prior. The most upsetting part of the ordeal, to her, was that the ambulance crew had to cut off her snowsuit.

When asked about the accident, Claire immediately talked about her new red and black replacement snowsuit Friday afternoon, and the two teddy bears she was given in the emergency room.

"Grandpa bought me a new snowsuit," the feisty little redhead said, animatedly bounding around her mother's office at Resort Group. "Look at these new boots."

"She told Grandma in the emergency room, 'They cut my clothes off, and that's a waste of money,'" mom Dina Fisher said.

Dina called Claire's lack of injuries after the Dec. 26 accident on Lynx Pass her family's "Christmas miracle."

"This was an 800-pound machine, and it's just a miracle that she didn't even have a broken bone," Dina said. "She's 34 pounds but tough as nails.

"The first thing she tells everyone now is 'I got ran over,' but she can't remember what the snowcat is called," Dina continued.

Claire's grandparents, visiting during the holiday from Evergreen, have a remote cabin on Lynx Pass and use an old-style Bombardier "snowcat," a tracked vehicle, to access it. With both parents back at work the day after Christmas, Grandma and Grandpa planned to take Claire and her 9-year-old brother Charlie up to the cabin for an overnight trip.

Grandpa was driving the kids up to meet Grandma, who was busy cooking lunch up at the cabin, when the throttle got stuck as they drove around a corner, causing the snowcat to lurch violently, Dina said.

"It jerked out of gear, and Claire fell out," Charlie said.

Charlie immediately jumped out the snowcat, too, saw Claire underneath the tracks and flagged Grandpa down to stop the machine.

"All you could see was an inch of my helmet, and my arms," Claire said.

Grandpa "threw it in drive, and lifted the tracks off of her, while the driverless snowcat rolled forward," Dina said.

The scariest part, according to Claire, was when Grandpa then immediately took off running to chase down the snowcat as it lumbered away.

"I was trying to say 'Grandpa,' but all I could say was 'enhhh,'" Claire groaned dramatically, giving a re-enactment of being run over on the office carpet.

Charlie stayed with Claire to keep her calm and still for the next 15 minutes, while Grandpa ran ahead to the cabin to call for help.

Because of poor cell phone reception on Lynx Pass, Dina and her husband, Tim, did not get word about the accident until a crew from the Oak Creek Fire Protection District had loaded Claire into an ambulance and was en route to Yampa Valley Medical Center.

"All (Grandma) told Tim was 'Claire's had an accident; we're in the ambulance on the way to the hospital,'" Dina said. "Then the phone cut out."

The next few minutes were immeasurably nerve-wracking for Claire's parents, as they only knew something bad had happened but had no idea what.

"I don't think it would've made me feel better for them to tell me she'd been run over by a snowcat," Dina said.

Minus the small cut under her nose and plenty of bruises from the snowcat's tracks, Claire escaped the accident uninjured. Dina said her lack of injuries is particularly astounding because she was pinned underneath the snowcat not in deep backcountry powder, but on the hard-packed road.

"My friend's uncle died in a snowcat accident - afterwards you realize how lucky we were," Dina said. "We're very grateful Grandpa put her helmet on."

"We'll always wear our helmets on the snow machines," Charlie said.

"Even in the car," Claire piped in.

"Well, I don't think we'll have you put your helmet on in the car," Dina said.

- To reach Melinda Dudley, call 871-4203 or e-mail mdudley@steamboatpilot.com