The thing that's scary about this particular incident is the fact that his friend probably would have died if it wasn't for his sky stick still on his hand when he was buried, and the fact that the tip was just high enough out of the ground to see. I mean talk about luck... This guy is incredibly lucky to be alive right now, words cannot even describe... Chances of his friends finding him fast enough without knowing exactly where he was is just slim to none. Cannot express to you how lucky this guy is
No, he had a pretty good chance otherwise as well. If they had an avalanche transceiver (you're supposed to take them and they were otherwise well prepared) then they would easily have found him in the 15 minutes or so in which survival rates remain high. Even if not, the area to be searched didn't look very large, and they had probes.
Michael Borgwardt They had only 1 beacon making this beacon completely useless, so no he did not have a pretty good chance otherwise. Additionally, don't think you can probe this area with 3 people in 15 min (let alone dig him out!!).
Michael Borgwardt My thoughts exactly. As soon I was going off piste and ski touring, I didn't hesitate to get the full gear even before starting. The difference it makes if everybody is properly geared up and has some basic idea on how to use the tools can make a big difference.
+Tim Oosterveer there are so many reasons why his survival chances were low if his pole wasn't poking out. His group was clueless starting with skiing in avalanche territory in a rat pack. Also everything the guy did was making the whole process take longer, taking off his skis, not probing for the body, digging from downhill. Very glad that his friend survived but I wish people would get some basic understanding of avalanche rescue and testing before they go backcountry. I saw a group going into one of the most dangerous parts of my area without any avy gear last week.
First mistake was all bombing down the face at the same time. In avalanche terrain, learn how to travel to reduce the risks. Second mistake was not going straight for your beacons and switching to search mode. 3rd mistake was the rescue it self. Never dig straight down. Always come in from the downward slope digging in at an angle. You're probe will tell how far down the slope to begin the dig. 4th mistake, all parties should be digging. You're very lucky to be alive.
As a former slope-patrol/rescuer, this was very, very, very, very hurtful to watch..... he just randomly digged snow away, sometimes even up the hill so once he moved it just came back again... Not to forget how he started to panic right at start. And nothing to mention how they just randomly bombed that hill..... i wasn‘t sure but didn‘t the others have an airbag?? I „rescued“ dead people enough because of careless people like this here. It‘s a shame to see tbh
Holy crap. That was a close call. Lucky James had his ski pole pointing up. Doubt they could've found him in time without beacons. As it is, James owed his friends a couple of brews for saving his skin. Mad respect for the filmer for realizing that a guy is buried before avalance was even over and rapid action afterwards. Thank for for sharing!
I'm relieved that he is not dead, but honestly if he hadn't gotten that pole out of the snow, he might have easily died. From the tumblr post, he wrote that his friends didn't have transceivers. Maybe the ski patrol would have been able to find him, but it might have been too late by then. Mistakes - High level of avalanche danger - Skiing the slope all at once, instead of one at a time. A multiple burial situation would have been even worse. - The entire group wasn't wearing transceivers, the guy with the camera even asked the other guy "Do you have a transceiver?". So they weren't even aware of how unprepared they were. - The one guy just seemed like he was standing there the entire time (I'm assuming the rescuers only had the one shovel) - Taking the gloves off before starting to shovel, this led to cold hands, and slower shoveling - Getting out the shovel/probe before even locating the victim. The rescuers should have been scanning the slope for signs of the victim. Mistakes happen especially in high stress situations like this. But the rescuers did manage to remain calm, and they ultimately saved their friend's life. Stay safe out there.
Number 1 rule is to have all party’s safe at the end of the day which they succeeded. But they made critical errors by not even having the right equipment. Could have ended a lot worse
I don't mean to be an asshole but I know I will sound like one. For the sake of learning there are a few things that should have been done differently. First, don't take your gloves off. In larger avalanches the debris is much more dense and can be incredibly difficult to dig in which mean you would be out there for longer and that your fingers would be half-way frozen before you get to your friend. Just never take them off. Secondly, use your beacon as soon as you are going to start looking. Third, never dig straight down, dig at an angle. Fourth, use your probe to find the angle necessary to dig at. e.g. your probe indicates your buddy is 1.5 meters down. go 1.5 meters downhill and dig towards him from there. if your friend was injured or couldn't get himself out you would have just wasted more time trying to pull him up. The conditions were in your favor but things could have been a lot worse. I'm glad it was not.
James Mort James, just had to log in to thank you and your friends for posting the video. It's obvious that you are aware of the mistakes that were made and the internet can be a bit of cruel place but these are the ultimate learning tools for avalanche awareness. Glad everything worked out.
Glad that everyone got out ok. I hope you'll go on an Avalanche Awareness Course before next season to improve the rescue techniques. But i'm glad you posted this video so others can learn from it
I sure did, and will continue to reeducate each season. It has been a very humbling experience learning from our mistakes. Crazy looking back on this video and realising just how lucky we were. Sheer dumb luck!
Did a good job of not letting panic just take over and moving efficiently. Seeing that ski pole HAD to get your heart going. I've avoided a couple small avalanches and this was some time back. We didn't have jack for training or equipment. Not real smart. Note: they were just small slides that we were near.... not in. But that tells you to get off the unstable stuff.
Thank you so much for having the courage to post this. You are allowing others to learn from your mistakes and that is an incredibly brave thing to do. To the people who have posted here in a negative way, you should be ashamed of yourselves. To the people who have posted constructively pointing out things that could have been improved, thank you.
Regardless, this was excellent coverage to show us all those rare moments regardless of steps done to text book...it's happening now and it's raw! You can go to school and learn yes but those that don't live in mountains, have access to courses hands on with skilled people etc and so forth will fend for their friends hand and fist...these guys did that... Every powder hound starts out somewhere...they captured theirs on a gopro and had the chance to show it...THANKS for that! The ski pole poking up was chilling man...wow.
Very awesome but I kept thinking throughout why didn't he put his gloves back on, not good if he loses his fingers in the process. But I can't imagine how awesome you would feel saving a life!! You Roger would be great at this!!
This video, like so many others, shows that a key thing the books and courses never prepare you for is panic. That’s why it’s key to practice your avalanche drill, so that when you’re in that situation where it’s impossible to be totally calm, your autopilot kicks in. From little things like not being familiar with your kit - (how to take a shovel out) and to having an organised response to maximise the chances of rescue, these all could make the difference between life and death. Sure, we know that everyone should carry transceivers and gloves should stay on, but that’s not the point - it’s easy to be an expert when you’re watching on RUclips. This video makes me want to go and practice and practice. It also is daunting - a relatively small avalanche and the snow wasn’t heavily compacted. Yet it was still terrifying to even watch, and you can feel how desperate the struggle is to find the buried friend’s head so he can start breathing again. I feel really glad for these guys, that they came out unscathed in the end!
Thank you for uploading and I'm glad you are alive! Good for everyone to learn from your mistakes. This guy was lucky. Everyone should realize that you can buy the best transceiver, shovel, and probe, but that is the gear that will be helping a friend more than you. If your friends have terrible/no gear, that is the gear that you are banking on to save your life. A couple things for others to note: 1. Let one person ski the line at a time 2. Make an initial "cut" across the top to get a feel for snow conditions 3. Go with a buddy (they did this which is a good step) 4. Have a transceiver, probe and a shovel. Check that it all WORKS! My bros transceiver had two year old batteries that were corroded and barely had enough juice to keep the thing on. Not good if we had needed it. 5. Read weather and snow condition reports before going and (even if it takes time) dig a pit to read snow layers 6. Take an avy class and learn to read terrain Above all, go out and enjoy farming the kung pow, but realize the risks and take actions to mitigate them to a controllable level. Everyone these days seems to be venturing into the back country/side country and most have no clue how to read snow pack or terrain. Don't be the next victim on the news. Be proactive and have fun knowing you and your buddies can ski and board safer with the knowledge.
This video had my heart pumping even though I knew from the title of the vid that he was going to be rescued. I imagined for a second being up there with my close friends and having one of them disappear under the snow, and just the thought of only having moments to find and rescue my friend just makes me sick to think about. I'm really glad everything turned out OK here. I could feel the guy that was wearing the camera's desperation and determination, digging frantically trying to find his buddy. Fuck.
Had my heart racing the whole time watching this. Ive been lucky many times and have got away from being buried. This really is something to learn from. Be prepared.
Terrifying! I started to fidget & tense up as the seconds ticked by when they couldn't find your head. Thank God you were able to move your pole around & your friend saw it in time. You're incredibly lucky that you made it out of that.
thanks for being brave enough to share this... hope you've all recovered... and I hope a lot more people watch this, and they all learn from your experience.
"transiever, do you have one?" - Train together ever year and ski the terrain one at a time agreeing the safe spots to stop and sight each other. It's the only way. What a miracle that James had a pole in the air when he was that deep. Great video - thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much for posting this. As a skier I really appreciate seeing just how long it takes to get to someone and that is under some of the better circumstances. I have watched this video several times and you immediately noticed your friend wasn't in your company. That is astounding. You have no idea how many people that might take several minutes and skiing before they noticed. Good on all of you. I'm not sure if you were the person that got buried or the person who saved him but both of you are awesome. The person buried was great to hold on to his pole so you could find him so much easier. Glad you guys are alright.
one guy with a shovel. no transceivers, not mentally focused on risks or the recovery process, ETERNITY to start recovery. big kudos to the one dude with the gear. that and the victims pole saved his life. insanely lucky.
Thanks God it turned out well. But I could not help noticing that you didn't know what to do, how to start the search, how to dig, even how to assemble the shovel. The time wasted on these little things can be crucial when someone life is at stake. I would definitely recommend to anyone who skis not only to buy the equipment, but also to practice with it often and visit some a freeride school where they can teach you at least the basics. Thank you for posting this video.
It was a figure of speech. He got lucky. He and his friends were not prepared. I hope these guys and everyone watching this will take it seriously and get educated. And buy trancievers.
***** Lol are you really that picky with common phrases in English? So if someone says "God damn it!", you're going to respond the same way? "Don't bring God into this!" type of deal?
Yuriy Kulikov Hey, at least he had a shovel and kit. He was more prepared than most skiers/snowboarders I know. I give him props for even carrying that shovel. It saved his friends life. Not saying transceivers/etc should not be used, only telling what I have seen from first hand exp. in the Northern US. I know the Alps are much more dangerous tho
Bill T You are right, unfortunately most people do not have even that, but without a transceiver a shovel is only useful to build kickers and digging out partially buried people. In case of a complete burial you will not know where to dig. Shovel, probe and transceiver are only effective when used together.
Christ, I am so pumped on adrenalin from watching that. I'm not going to list all the things it's obvious you should have done, I'ld sound like I was lecturing and being holier than thou, when in reality in the past I have gone out equally unprepared. I'm just pleased you got out alive, that you were lucky you were visible from the surface, and that at least one of your mates had a shovel. In the comments below you acknowledge that there is nothing to boast about in the groups performance and state you posted the film as a cautionary tale for others, and I find that admirable as you are bound to get a little toasted by the denizens of some web forums. Ignore anything that goes beyond constructive criticism and be thankful your around to take the constructive stuff on-board.
Thanks for sharing this. It's good to see the whole sequence from whooping in pow to rescuing your friend. Even though there were mistakes, you saved him and you may be saving others by posting this.
I just read about your horrifying experience in a swiss newspaper, I'm so glad you made it out alive! That your friends reacted so well and quickly is incredible, I don't know if I could have done that without panicking... anyways, thanks for uploading it and showing everyone that it isn't as "safe" as everyone thinks! Hope you're doing good again :)
I think you did great. Nobody knows how they will react when situations like this arise. You saved your friend, that's all that matters. I'm quite sure he will never forget it either.
Some of you guys are clueless, I did a brief avy training session before I went cat skiing and in perfect conditions where no one’s life was in danger digging out the hidden transceivers pack was a pain in the duck and it was only buried 20” in the snow. Under these circumstances this dude did pretty god damn good.
@Tristan Hao He stood there doing nothing but send more snow into the area that was being dug, put your fucking gear down and dog dig that shit out behind the guy with the shovel to make it easier for him
Ya that guy is honestly kinda a POS. Did he not realize his friend was about to die? Like I understand you want to stay calm, but you also want to be working your f**king a$$ off to find the buried person.
I know this post may only be a small post in the vastness of the comments and never been featured at the top, but I do think I have something valuable to listen to. Be constructive with your comments not only on YT, but on the blogs and other sites. As the creator point out him self, it is important to learn by mistakes. The creator chose to upload this, maybe fully aware of the fact that the internet will try to parenting and judge the rescuers actions. He could have just hugged his friends and never, put this video up. Thankfully, he did otherwise. These are valuable images ment to teach what to do right and what to be aware about. Be constructive and take notice. This rescue video may be the best lesson you'll get, even though they didn't follow all the steps. Be nice, be kind and be constructive. Thats all..
My heart and adrenalin is still at high levels, what a great lesson for all , Ok there were mistakes made but didn't we all learn so much . Thanks for shareing and god everyone survived.
Thanks for sharing your story James. Glad you are OK and thank your friends to find you and dig you out. I agree with you 100%: Everybody in the group must have BEACON-PROBE-SHOVEL in avalanche terrain; and companion rescue skills. Thanks for the write up also. I learnt a lot. Happy trails!
Must have been terrified, poor guy. So lucky his shy stick was sticking out of the snow and his friend had good eye site, the weather looked bad so yeah, awesome video :)
Thanks for sharing mate!...A very lucky escape and a great learning experience for yourselves and others. So easy to get caught up in the heat of the moment in-bounds chasing fresh tracks and ignore the alarm bells. Good outcome! Stay safe mate.
It's a panicked situation, I'm sure if you were in the same situation you would know exactly what to do, in what order and when. but you aren't so stop dissecting the footage and respect the fact that before the avalanche had even stopped flowing he was looking for his friend.
He is not "searches his skis", you dombfock. He noticed a ski and is pulling it out of the snow hoping his friend is still attached to them. Then he plants them into the snow and that helps mark their last location so they can start probing around this area.
Logic is low when emotions are high. It's easy to bash this guy and me a Monday night quarterback. He did all he could to try and find his friends head and let him breather first. Glad you guys made it our okay
skiing at 4/5 is completely insane!!! I can't understand why people do that, but now i know that kind of people getting killed in the alps.... i am NEVER on tour with others that don't have any AT/LVS and we always test the colleges before. if someone forgot his one, he stays at home. i am glad he was so lucky, but it wasn't clever to ski with others that bad prepared. btw. a second shovel would be great. but thx for uploading your video. i think it shows why it's important to train search and rescue every year!
I'm so glad u found him! I almost cried when u saw him!! We lost a friend this season...Our mountains are beautiful but sometime very scary.take care of you. I wish u all the best. Lovely greetings from switzerland. sry for bad english
It depends on the density of the snow, if your mouth is full of snow, how much pressure is being put on your body, and if you panic. Most people will panic and try to gulp for breath and then they get a mouth full of snow which makes it worse, plus it's dark and in a lot of avalanches the victim is injured. tldr; It's like breathing sand and you will die if not rescued fast. The window for CPR is small.
Markrar I was under 50cm of snow once. It was not a real avalanche, it was during a training session with my friends who dug a hole for me:-). So the snow was not that dense. Even though my chest was not collapsed and I had a little air around me, after a minute it was really hard to breath and after two it was nearly unbearable. So yes, it is hard to breathe.
Incredible video. It's frightening to watch. God bless you folks, and thanks for sharing it. It will help inform others. Amazing work keeping your head on straight as you rescued your friend.
Don't blame the slope marks. Your turn to the left was clearly off slope (trees in the fall line etc.). And watch those rocks hiding under the perfect pulver - aggressive skiing is always dangerous after such strong snowfalls, especially in steep terrain. Anyway, great reaction! I'm glad your friend is alive, and C U next time in the beautiful swiss alps. :-)
To a lot a of the people pointing out errors, constructive criticism is helpful but tone is key, and always remember the famous military quote: "No plan ever survives contact with the enemy"
Bit late to the party, but that gully, stream, re-entrant, call it what you will, is a classic terrain trap. There's loads of these in or on the edge of most resorts. I've seen excavation depths of 5+m for what look like tiny slides which just get channelled into and fill these stream beds. 2 Scandinavian guys buried and killed on the Swiss side of the Col de Balme, late 90s IIRC. I'd skied their exact tracks 20+ times before then, along with thousands of others. Carry a beacon, probe and shovel, know how to use them. Good video fella, there's too much crap on YT encouraging "off piste" without making it clear to the uninitiated how quickly and badly things go pear-shaped.
So just goes to show, not all avalanches are like the ones on TV, they can be subtle ones by comparision that can still bury someone. Glad you got you're friend out.
Bombing hill all together with out stopping and checking, heading directly over a rollover/convex. Partner didn't have rescue gear, no beacons. Taking ski's off before searching or finding person, Digging before probing to identify exactly where person is, digging directly above instead of below and in and taking gloves off. This is a textbook example of what not to do. Well done on sharing and am happy you got out alive, all things considered, you should be dead. So lucky at least one of your friends had a shovel and that you managed to get a pole above the snow so they could find you.
When your at a resort of in the backcountry especially in those conditions everyone should have a pack with a shovel and probe (yellow jacket didn't). Everyone should have beacon attached to themselves. NEVER take gloves off! If you over heat suck it up because your buddy is freezing and dying. As soon as you get up spot all you buddies if one head is missing don't take time taking off your pretty skis throw that shit off rip your shovel/probe out and get your damn beacon out!
You are obviously a keyboard skier. Otherwise you would have known that it's almost impossible to stand up after a fall in deep powder without first taking your skis off.
glad that you got lucky and managed to rescue him! the biggest issue I see here ( and I see it all the freakin time) is a bunch of people all droppig in at once. I can't get how you can endanger each others in a way like this. wait on safe spots, enjoy to watch each other and watch out for each other. today i saw groups of 3-5 ppl. dropping into 35° inclinations all at once all day long - even without equipment...
Thanks for the upload. Wow the guy was just about 6 meters away and without the pole visible you would have not been able to find him. Suggestion regarding gloves: Buy gloves that you can attach to your wrists, that way you can putt them off and on without loosing them.
When snow is completely on top of you like that, you literally can't move a centimeter. The weight of the snow on top of you is so heavy, and it's all around you. In a situation like that, you regulate your breathing, and hope to god someone finds you.
Not sure if you are trolling (judging by your picture). But if you ever have experience trying to walk in snow that deep, it is already difficult enough as it is. Imagine not being able to breathe, not being able to see anything, you have no real way of knowing what up and down is, and on top of that having the weight of the snow and cold put even more pressure on you. He had his skis on too which would make it near impossible to do anything at all.
I dunno man, It's doubtful he could dig himself out. Considering the fact that he likely had no way to really breath that well, if at all. But he was able to get his ski pole positioned around and sticking out. So I figure if he had a small pocket of air and could keep moving that ski pole around, that he may eventually be able to start a small tunnel...But again, The chances are slim and he'd have to have air..Which he probably didn't..
treemustach You can't even tell which way is up after being tossed about like that in an avalanche. Best to conserve energy if you know help will arrive.
You stopped digging when you got close to him. Your mate needs air. Don't worry about smashing him with a shovel. Thank you for posting. This is great for learning.
In any sort of backcountry or ungroomed terrain, you need a Avalung, helmet (although I'd argue a helmet should be required for any terrain), and an avalanche transponder. I would highly recommend everyone equip themselves with this if you're doing backcountry or terrain that is not groomed/blasted. Props to the guy that he had a shovel ready, he had an ava transponder, but it seems like the other guy didn't or it wasn't on.
Welcome Back James! This is the closest you'll ever get to a life after death or reincarnation. Enjoy your life. too bad the video doesn't show the "him-getting-out"-part. thanks for sharing.
Lots of people talking about the gloves, but he saw the pole just as he was going to put them on. Yes lots of mistakes here, but the gloves situation was just due to timing and getting there as fast as possible after seeing the pole.
In this case he wouldn't probably even have enough time to pull on his ABS cord. This situation shows, you don't need much of and avalanche to get buried nice and deep. You actually don't need one at all in order to suffocate in the snow. I fell once head down in a deep snowdrift and I had quite hard time to dig myself out, catch a breath and I felt the panic setting in. Since than I wear Avalung. Similar thing happened to me just 2 weeks ago in Kleinwalsertal again, but at least this time I didn't get full mouth of snow and I could catch a breath before I managed to dig myself out. I think also in this situation, it could have been quite useful. But of course, first of all they should wear a beacon and have shovel and probe. Thanks for this vid, as I will share it with all my retarded friends that don't wear one and think the avalanches are for some other people.
I agree, this is the precisely he kind of small avalanche that an avalung is perfect for. While I think the nature of this avalanche wouldn’t allow an airbag to function to its fullest, I disagree and think he had plenty of time to pull the cord.
The thing that's scary about this particular incident is the fact that his friend probably would have died if it wasn't for his sky stick still on his hand when he was buried, and the fact that the tip was just high enough out of the ground to see. I mean talk about luck... This guy is incredibly lucky to be alive right now, words cannot even describe... Chances of his friends finding him fast enough without knowing exactly where he was is just slim to none. Cannot express to you how lucky this guy is
No, he had a pretty good chance otherwise as well. If they had an avalanche transceiver (you're supposed to take them and they were otherwise well prepared) then they would easily have found him in the 15 minutes or so in which survival rates remain high. Even if not, the area to be searched didn't look very large, and they had probes.
Michael Borgwardt They had only 1 beacon making this beacon completely useless, so no he did not have a pretty good chance otherwise. Additionally, don't think you can probe this area with 3 people in 15 min (let alone dig him out!!).
Michael Borgwardt My thoughts exactly. As soon I was going off piste and ski touring, I didn't hesitate to get the full gear even before starting. The difference it makes if everybody is properly geared up and has some basic idea on how to use the tools can make a big difference.
+Tim Oosterveer there are so many reasons why his survival chances were low if his pole wasn't poking out. His group was clueless starting with skiing in avalanche territory in a rat pack. Also everything the guy did was making the whole process take longer, taking off his skis, not probing for the body, digging from downhill. Very glad that his friend survived but I wish people would get some basic understanding of avalanche rescue and testing before they go backcountry. I saw a group going into one of the most dangerous parts of my area without any avy gear last week.
And also the guy noticing someone is missing basically instantly
First mistake was all bombing down the face at the same time. In avalanche terrain, learn how to travel to reduce the risks. Second mistake was not going straight for your beacons and switching to search mode. 3rd mistake was the rescue it self. Never dig straight down. Always come in from the downward slope digging in at an angle. You're probe will tell how far down the slope to begin the dig. 4th mistake, all parties should be digging. You're very lucky to be alive.
Nathan Hart this is textbook “how to die in the backcountry “
It was painful to watch.
Take your gloves off first thing so your hands are useless in about two minutes.
As a former slope-patrol/rescuer, this was very, very, very, very hurtful to watch..... he just randomly digged snow away, sometimes even up the hill so once he moved it just came back again...
Not to forget how he started to panic right at start.
And nothing to mention how they just randomly bombed that hill.....
i wasn‘t sure but didn‘t the others have an airbag??
I „rescued“ dead people enough because of careless people like this here. It‘s a shame to see tbh
This just looks like they have the equipments but no proper training. At least take an AST1 or something. Glad they are ok tho.
Holy crap. That was a close call. Lucky James had his ski pole pointing up. Doubt they could've found him in time without beacons. As it is, James owed his friends a couple of brews for saving his skin.
Mad respect for the filmer for realizing that a guy is buried before avalance was even over and rapid action afterwards. Thank for for sharing!
I'm relieved that he is not dead, but honestly if he hadn't gotten that pole out of the snow, he might have easily died. From the tumblr post, he wrote that his friends didn't have transceivers. Maybe the ski patrol would have been able to find him, but it might have been too late by then.
Mistakes
- High level of avalanche danger
- Skiing the slope all at once, instead of one at a time. A multiple burial situation would have been even worse.
- The entire group wasn't wearing transceivers, the guy with the camera even asked the other guy "Do you have a transceiver?". So they weren't even aware of how unprepared they were.
- The one guy just seemed like he was standing there the entire time (I'm assuming the rescuers only had the one shovel)
- Taking the gloves off before starting to shovel, this led to cold hands, and slower shoveling
- Getting out the shovel/probe before even locating the victim. The rescuers should have been scanning the slope for signs of the victim.
Mistakes happen especially in high stress situations like this. But the rescuers did manage to remain calm, and they ultimately saved their friend's life. Stay safe out there.
they werent recuers they were his friends skiing in a slope with that wasnt know for avalanches read the desc
jenomsedivam 1 year old please stop necroposting, i dont care anymore
jenomsedivam Stop necroposting and dont reply to this
@@Boomy0 so annoying when people keep commenting on old things
Number 1 rule is to have all party’s safe at the end of the day which they succeeded. But they made critical errors by not even having the right equipment. Could have ended a lot worse
I don't mean to be an asshole but I know I will sound like one. For the sake of learning there are a few things that should have been done differently. First, don't take your gloves off. In larger avalanches the debris is much more dense and can be incredibly difficult to dig in which mean you would be out there for longer and that your fingers would be half-way frozen before you get to your friend. Just never take them off. Secondly, use your beacon as soon as you are going to start looking. Third, never dig straight down, dig at an angle. Fourth, use your probe to find the angle necessary to dig at. e.g. your probe indicates your buddy is 1.5 meters down. go 1.5 meters downhill and dig towards him from there. if your friend was injured or couldn't get himself out you would have just wasted more time trying to pull him up. The conditions were in your favor but things could have been a lot worse. I'm glad it was not.
not sure why he would take them off especially since it seems better to dig through snow then bare fingers
James Mort James, just had to log in to thank you and your friends for posting the video. It's obvious that you are aware of the mistakes that were made and the internet can be a bit of cruel place but these are the ultimate learning tools for avalanche awareness. Glad everything worked out.
Alxmir23 to open his rucksack.
James Mort you know what your family name means in french right???
***** lol
Glad that everyone got out ok. I hope you'll go on an Avalanche Awareness Course before next season to improve the rescue techniques. But i'm glad you posted this video so others can learn from it
I sure did, and will continue to reeducate each season. It has been a very humbling experience learning from our mistakes. Crazy looking back on this video and realising just how lucky we were. Sheer dumb luck!
Did a good job of not letting panic just take over and moving efficiently. Seeing that ski pole HAD to get your heart going. I've avoided a couple small avalanches and this was some time back. We didn't have jack for training or equipment. Not real smart. Note: they were just small slides that we were near.... not in. But that tells you to get off the unstable stuff.
Thank you so much for having the courage to post this. You are allowing others to learn from your mistakes and that is an incredibly brave thing to do. To the people who have posted here in a negative way, you should be ashamed of yourselves. To the people who have posted constructively pointing out things that could have been improved, thank you.
Regardless, this was excellent coverage to show us all those rare moments regardless of steps done to text book...it's happening now and it's raw! You can go to school and learn yes but those that don't live in mountains, have access to courses hands on with skilled people etc and so forth will fend for their friends hand and fist...these guys did that...
Every powder hound starts out somewhere...they captured theirs on a gopro and had the chance to show it...THANKS for that! The ski pole poking up was chilling man...wow.
Very awesome but I kept thinking throughout why didn't he put his gloves back on, not good if he loses his fingers in the process. But I can't imagine how awesome you would feel saving a life!! You Roger would be great at this!!
This was not good but great info to learn from..
Yes it is...I agree with you
Gotta love the pure adrenaline of his friends to step up and act quickly!
TonysTechHelp Only a sociopath wouldn't help their friend in desperate need, these guys are awesome for what they did though.
This video, like so many others, shows that a key thing the books and courses never prepare you for is panic. That’s why it’s key to practice your avalanche drill, so that when you’re in that situation where it’s impossible to be totally calm, your autopilot kicks in.
From little things like not being familiar with your kit - (how to take a shovel out) and to having an organised response to maximise the chances of rescue, these all could make the difference between life and death. Sure, we know that everyone should carry transceivers and gloves should stay on, but that’s not the point - it’s easy to be an expert when you’re watching on RUclips. This video makes me want to go and practice and practice.
It also is daunting - a relatively small avalanche and the snow wasn’t heavily compacted. Yet it was still terrifying to even watch, and you can feel how desperate the struggle is to find the buried friend’s head so he can start breathing again.
I feel really glad for these guys, that they came out unscathed in the end!
Thank you for uploading and I'm glad you are alive! Good for everyone to learn from your mistakes. This guy was lucky. Everyone should realize that you can buy the best transceiver, shovel, and probe, but that is the gear that will be helping a friend more than you. If your friends have terrible/no gear, that is the gear that you are banking on to save your life.
A couple things for others to note:
1. Let one person ski the line at a time
2. Make an initial "cut" across the top to get a feel for snow conditions
3. Go with a buddy (they did this which is a good step)
4. Have a transceiver, probe and a shovel. Check that it all WORKS! My bros transceiver had two year old batteries that were corroded and barely had enough juice to keep the thing on. Not good if we had needed it.
5. Read weather and snow condition reports before going and (even if it takes time) dig a pit to read snow layers
6. Take an avy class and learn to read terrain
Above all, go out and enjoy farming the kung pow, but realize the risks and take actions to mitigate them to a controllable level. Everyone these days seems to be venturing into the back country/side country and most have no clue how to read snow pack or terrain. Don't be the next victim on the news. Be proactive and have fun knowing you and your buddies can ski and board safer with the knowledge.
Holy shit. So glad they got you out, man. My heart was pounding just watching this. Scary shit.
This video had my heart pumping even though I knew from the title of the vid that he was going to be rescued. I imagined for a second being up there with my close friends and having one of them disappear under the snow, and just the thought of only having moments to find and rescue my friend just makes me sick to think about. I'm really glad everything turned out OK here. I could feel the guy that was wearing the camera's desperation and determination, digging frantically trying to find his buddy. Fuck.
Not only that, but the desperate mumbling sound of the guy buried unable to breathe made my stomach queasy.
This comment described exactly how I felt.
I was in tears at the end. Fucking hell...I can not even imagine being able to function in that kind of situation.
+fiveohfivethree not going on the mountain with you then - fucks sake!
My hands couldn't take the amount of cold that this guy's did. My fingers would just stop working.
Had my heart racing the whole time watching this. Ive been lucky many times and have got away from being buried. This really is something to learn from. Be prepared.
Terrifying! I started to fidget & tense up as the seconds ticked by when they couldn't find your head. Thank God you were able to move your pole around & your friend saw it in time. You're incredibly lucky that you made it out of that.
thanks for being brave enough to share this... hope you've all recovered... and I hope a lot more people watch this, and they all learn from your experience.
Everything just feels like its taking FORREEEVVERRR! Good job though
That ski's just wouldnt come off, i was yelling at my screen ffs come on allready. Intense video.
It looked like he was taking his sweet time shoveling. And it looked like the snow would just collapse back on him.
@@BethJehovah he took off his gloves for some reason so his hands got cold which led to slow shoveling
So frustrating to watch 😩
The fact that he had to ask his buddy if he had a transceiver is so scary 🤦🏼♂️
"transiever, do you have one?" - Train together ever year and ski the terrain one at a time agreeing the safe spots to stop and sight each other. It's the only way. What a miracle that James had a pole in the air when he was that deep. Great video - thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much for posting this. As a skier I really appreciate seeing just how long it takes to get to someone and that is under some of the better circumstances. I have watched this video several times and you immediately noticed your friend wasn't in your company. That is astounding. You have no idea how many people that might take several minutes and skiing before they noticed. Good on all of you. I'm not sure if you were the person that got buried or the person who saved him but both of you are awesome. The person buried was great to hold on to his pole so you could find him so much easier. Glad you guys are alright.
"You good?"
James: "DO I LOOK GOOD? KEEP DIGGING"
6 years later and this is still getting comments
Don't take your gloves off. You aren't much good as a rescuer if you can't use your hands.
one guy with a shovel. no transceivers, not mentally focused on risks or the recovery process, ETERNITY to start recovery. big kudos to the one dude with the gear. that and the victims pole saved his life. insanely lucky.
Thanks God it turned out well. But I could not help noticing that you didn't know what to do, how to start the search, how to dig, even how to assemble the shovel. The time wasted on these little things can be crucial when someone life is at stake.
I would definitely recommend to anyone who skis not only to buy the equipment, but also to practice with it often and visit some a freeride school where they can teach you at least the basics.
Thank you for posting this video.
god has nothing to do with this!!!!
he ONLY and ONLY has his friends to thank!
It was a figure of speech. He got lucky. He and his friends were not prepared. I hope these guys and everyone watching this will take it seriously and get educated. And buy trancievers.
***** Lol are you really that picky with common phrases in English? So if someone says "God damn it!", you're going to respond the same way? "Don't bring God into this!" type of deal?
Yuriy Kulikov Hey, at least he had a shovel and kit. He was more prepared than most skiers/snowboarders I know. I give him props for even carrying that shovel. It saved his friends life. Not saying transceivers/etc should not be used, only telling what I have seen from first hand exp. in the Northern US. I know the Alps are much more dangerous tho
Bill T You are right, unfortunately most people do not have even that, but without a transceiver a shovel is only useful to build kickers and digging out partially buried people. In case of a complete burial you will not know where to dig. Shovel, probe and transceiver are only effective when used together.
Vid still scary AF a year later. Thanks again for posting.
Christ, I am so pumped on adrenalin from watching that.
I'm not going to list all the things it's obvious you should have done, I'ld sound like I was lecturing and being holier than thou, when in reality in the past I have gone out equally unprepared.
I'm just pleased you got out alive, that you were lucky you were visible from the surface, and that at least one of your mates had a shovel.
In the comments below you acknowledge that there is nothing to boast about in the groups performance and state you posted the film as a cautionary tale for others, and I find that admirable as you are bound to get a little toasted by the denizens of some web forums. Ignore anything that goes beyond constructive criticism and be thankful your around to take the constructive stuff on-board.
Thanks for sharing this. It's good to see the whole sequence from whooping in pow to rescuing your friend.
Even though there were mistakes, you saved him and you may be saving others by posting this.
I just read about your horrifying experience in a swiss newspaper, I'm so glad you made it out alive! That your friends reacted so well and quickly is incredible, I don't know if I could have done that without panicking...
anyways, thanks for uploading it and showing everyone that it isn't as "safe" as everyone thinks! Hope you're doing good again :)
I think you did great. Nobody knows how they will react when situations like this arise. You saved your friend, that's all that matters. I'm quite sure he will never forget it either.
Some of you guys are clueless, I did a brief avy training session before I went cat skiing and in perfect conditions where no one’s life was in danger digging out the hidden transceivers pack was a pain in the duck and it was only buried 20” in the snow. Under these circumstances this dude did pretty god damn good.
The guy in yellow was completely useless.
@Tristan Hao He stood there doing nothing but send more snow into the area that was being dug, put your fucking gear down and dog dig that shit out behind the guy with the shovel to make it easier for him
Ya that guy is honestly kinda a POS. Did he not realize his friend was about to die? Like I understand you want to stay calm, but you also want to be working your f**king a$$ off to find the buried person.
@Tristan Hao no the other guy literally told yellow where their friend was bruh
@Tristan Hao Use your fucking hands to remove the powder
@Tristan Hao you don't need a shovel
I know this post may only be a small post in the vastness of the comments and never been featured at the top, but I do think I have something valuable to listen to.
Be constructive with your comments not only on YT, but on the blogs and other sites.
As the creator point out him self, it is important to learn by mistakes. The creator chose to upload this, maybe fully aware of the fact that the internet will try to parenting and judge the rescuers actions.
He could have just hugged his friends and never, put this video up. Thankfully, he did otherwise.
These are valuable images ment to teach what to do right and what to be aware about.
Be constructive and take notice. This rescue video may be the best lesson you'll get, even though they didn't follow all the steps.
Be nice, be kind and be constructive.
Thats all..
Omg this was scary & nerve wrecking to watch! Great job keeping calm & saving your friend's life!
Thanks for sharing. Regardless your mistakes the comments are a bit rude while you are providing good educational materials
Wow dude! Thanks for sharing! Glad you made it and your write up on tumblr is very humbling and informative.
Thank you for posting this vid! Bold step. Well done.
My heart and adrenalin is still at high levels, what a great lesson for all , Ok there were mistakes made but didn't we all learn so much . Thanks for shareing and god everyone survived.
YOU LUCKY B-SAD. Live and learn that's what we are all doing. You made it out alive and that is what counts.
Most incredible video I've seen on RUclips
wow . so lucky he held on to that pole.
Complete rescue? You only dug out his head! lol well done, very intense situation, only ever seen partial burials before, this was incomparable
I'm so glad you and your friends are okay. Seriously scary.
Thanks for sharing your story James. Glad you are OK and thank your friends to find you and dig you out. I agree with you 100%: Everybody in the group must have BEACON-PROBE-SHOVEL in avalanche terrain; and companion rescue skills. Thanks for the write up also. I learnt a lot. Happy trails!
Each person should also have an air bag.
Must have been terrified, poor guy. So lucky his shy stick was sticking out of the snow and his friend had good eye site, the weather looked bad so yeah, awesome video :)
Thanks for sharing mate!...A very lucky escape and a great learning experience for yourselves and others. So easy to get caught up in the heat of the moment in-bounds chasing fresh tracks and ignore the alarm bells. Good outcome! Stay safe mate.
i love how he searches his skis, before he goes to look for his friend...
It's a panicked situation, I'm sure if you were in the same situation you would know exactly what to do, in what order and when. but you aren't so stop dissecting the footage and respect the fact that before the avalanche had even stopped flowing he was looking for his friend.
@@Peterscraps Peter this was 5 years ago my friend.
@@Peterscraps They were not panicking at all, talking with each others with ease, and slowly settling the tools.
He is not "searches his skis", you dombfock. He noticed a ski and is pulling it out of the snow hoping his friend is still attached to them. Then he plants them into the snow and that helps mark their last location so they can start probing around this area.
i love how you talk shit even though you would do nothing
hearing his muffled cries was terrifying
you guys saved his life God bless you
That must be the worst situation ever to be caught in. And you weren't even totally free by the end of this video.
25 died this year in the Swiss Alps already (January and February). This is already more than the yearly average of 22! Good you got out of it!
Logic is low when emotions are high. It's easy to bash this guy and me a Monday night quarterback. He did all he could to try and find his friends head and let him breather first. Glad you guys made it our okay
skiing at 4/5 is completely insane!!!
I can't understand why people do that, but now i know that kind of people getting killed in the alps.... i am NEVER on tour with others that don't have any AT/LVS and we always test the colleges before. if someone forgot his one, he stays at home. i am glad he was so lucky, but it wasn't clever to ski with others that bad prepared. btw. a second shovel would be great. but thx for uploading your video. i think it shows why it's important to train search and rescue every year!
I'm so glad u found him! I almost cried when u saw him!! We lost a friend this season...Our mountains are beautiful but sometime very scary.take care of you. I wish u all the best. Lovely greetings from switzerland. sry for bad english
How hard is it to breath when you're that far under?
It depends on the density of the snow, if your mouth is full of snow, how much pressure is being put on your body, and if you panic. Most people will panic and try to gulp for breath and then they get a mouth full of snow which makes it worse, plus it's dark and in a lot of avalanches the victim is injured.
tldr; It's like breathing sand and you will die if not rescued fast. The window for CPR is small.
Markrar I was under 50cm of snow once. It was not a real avalanche, it was during a training session with my friends who dug a hole for me:-). So the snow was not that dense. Even though my chest was not collapsed and I had a little air around me, after a minute it was really hard to breath and after two it was nearly unbearable. So yes, it is hard to breathe.
If you have an small airpocket you're likely to survive 15-18 minutes buried in the snow
watching this feels right in the feels
Incredible video. It's frightening to watch. God bless you folks, and thanks for sharing it. It will help inform others. Amazing work keeping your head on straight as you rescued your friend.
that skipole saved his life
Don't blame the slope marks. Your turn to the left was clearly off slope (trees in the fall line etc.). And watch those rocks hiding under the perfect pulver - aggressive skiing is always dangerous after such strong snowfalls, especially in steep terrain. Anyway, great reaction! I'm glad your friend is alive, and C U next time in the beautiful swiss alps. :-)
This killed mey desire to back country ski. Good job.
To a lot a of the people pointing out errors, constructive criticism is helpful but tone is key, and always remember the famous military quote: "No plan ever survives contact with the enemy"
Holy moly man..you did a great job in a terrifying situation! thank christ he got his pole out..
Wow!!! Glad you found him and got him out. Soooooo many mistakes. Hopefully you have done some avalanche training.
Bit late to the party, but that gully, stream, re-entrant, call it what you will, is a classic terrain trap. There's loads of these in or on the edge of most resorts. I've seen excavation depths of 5+m for what look like tiny slides which just get channelled into and fill these stream beds.
2 Scandinavian guys buried and killed on the Swiss side of the Col de Balme, late 90s IIRC. I'd skied their exact tracks 20+ times before then, along with thousands of others. Carry a beacon, probe and shovel, know how to use them.
Good video fella, there's too much crap on YT encouraging "off piste" without making it clear to the uninitiated how quickly and badly things go pear-shaped.
So just goes to show, not all avalanches are like the ones on TV, they can be subtle ones by comparision that can still bury someone. Glad you got you're friend out.
Holy damn dude! You are really lucky that the stick pop out of the snow!
Glad that you're alive! Be careful!
Avalanche: "They'll never find him"
Ski pole: "Not so fast!"
Bombing hill all together with out stopping and checking, heading directly over a rollover/convex. Partner didn't have rescue gear, no beacons. Taking ski's off before searching or finding person, Digging before probing to identify exactly where person is, digging directly above instead of below and in and taking gloves off. This is a textbook example of what not to do. Well done on sharing and am happy you got out alive, all things considered, you should be dead. So lucky at least one of your friends had a shovel and that you managed to get a pole above the snow so they could find you.
You realize this was inbounds
Skis off???? Are you nut?
In fresh snow this is sucide
I'd love to do an inventory on these skiers backpacks and hear about these types of situations, scary stuff and glad he was OK.
Oh my god, such a scary thing. That guys was lucky to have you guys around you
Glad you made it out mate. Thanks for sharing this.
That was the most intense ski rescue videos I've seen. I saw one with a guy upside down in a tree well but the guy here was even deeper.
Man: “This is going to be amazing”
Avalanche: “Just you wait, buddy 👍🏻”
When your at a resort of in the backcountry especially in those conditions everyone should have a pack with a shovel and probe (yellow jacket didn't). Everyone should have beacon attached to themselves. NEVER take gloves off! If you over heat suck it up because your buddy is freezing and dying. As soon as you get up spot all you buddies if one head is missing don't take time taking off your pretty skis throw that shit off rip your shovel/probe out and get your damn beacon out!
You are obviously a keyboard skier. Otherwise you would have known that it's almost impossible to stand up after a fall in deep powder without first taking your skis off.
This is one of the most tense videos I have seen! Amazing! Thank fuck you are ok :)
THIS IS SCARY AS FUCK EVEN TO WATCH
Glad you made it out! That is terrifying. O_O
glad that you got lucky and managed to rescue him! the biggest issue I see here ( and I see it all the freakin time) is a bunch of people all droppig in at once. I can't get how you can endanger each others in a way like this. wait on safe spots, enjoy to watch each other and watch out for each other. today i saw groups of 3-5 ppl. dropping into 35° inclinations all at once all day long - even without equipment...
how can you UNLIKE THIS?!
this man was born again
How was he removed his baton under the snow ?
RUclips: You like avalanche videos now
Me: Yes.
"Avalanche, Fuck" might just be the two most perfect words to put together. That guy is so lucky.
Mad respect to you guys, the dude taping already knew and had to act
Thanks for the upload. Wow the guy was just about 6 meters away and without the pole visible you would have not been able to find him. Suggestion regarding gloves: Buy gloves that you can attach to your wrists, that way you can putt them off and on without loosing them.
This guy is so incredibly lucky that pole stuck up out of the snow
Why didn't he try to get out himself? Is it the weight of the snow? Can't you make dig a tunnel?
Hugo Niedols You can't move at all when you're buried like that.
When snow is completely on top of you like that, you literally can't move a centimeter. The weight of the snow on top of you is so heavy, and it's all around you. In a situation like that, you regulate your breathing, and hope to god someone finds you.
Not sure if you are trolling (judging by your picture). But if you ever have experience trying to walk in snow that deep, it is already difficult enough as it is. Imagine not being able to breathe, not being able to see anything, you have no real way of knowing what up and down is, and on top of that having the weight of the snow and cold put even more pressure on you. He had his skis on too which would make it near impossible to do anything at all.
I dunno man, It's doubtful he could dig himself out. Considering the fact that he likely had no way to really breath that well, if at all. But he was able to get his ski pole positioned around and sticking out. So I figure if he had a small pocket of air and could keep moving that ski pole around, that he may eventually be able to start a small tunnel...But again, The chances are slim and he'd have to have air..Which he probably didn't..
treemustach You can't even tell which way is up after being tossed about like that in an avalanche. Best to conserve energy if you know help will arrive.
I'm glad your alive.
crazy. hope he is enjoying his second birthday every year!
G‘schichten aus‘m Paulanergarten! Bringen‘s Ma noch oan Hendl!
I love how he cares more about his friend then his ice cold hands I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT! God bless these people
I was thinking it was a mistake to not put the gloves back on when he took them off to get the shovel. Glad everyone is ok.
Bet he was glad to feel your hand. Good effort!💪
You stopped digging when you got close to him. Your mate needs air. Don't worry about smashing him with a shovel.
Thank you for posting. This is great for learning.
Wow. That is amazing!
In any sort of backcountry or ungroomed terrain, you need a Avalung, helmet (although I'd argue a helmet should be required for any terrain), and an avalanche transponder. I would highly recommend everyone equip themselves with this if you're doing backcountry or terrain that is not groomed/blasted.
Props to the guy that he had a shovel ready, he had an ava transponder, but it seems like the other guy didn't or it wasn't on.
Welcome Back James!
This is the closest you'll ever get to a life after death or reincarnation.
Enjoy your life.
too bad the video doesn't show the "him-getting-out"-part.
thanks for sharing.
Lots of people talking about the gloves, but he saw the pole just as he was going to put them on. Yes lots of mistakes here, but the gloves situation was just due to timing and getting there as fast as possible after seeing the pole.
In this case he wouldn't probably even have enough time to pull on his ABS cord. This situation shows, you don't need much of and avalanche to get buried nice and deep. You actually don't need one at all in order to suffocate in the snow. I fell once head down in a deep snowdrift and I had quite hard time to dig myself out, catch a breath and I felt the panic setting in. Since than I wear Avalung. Similar thing happened to me just 2 weeks ago in Kleinwalsertal again, but at least this time I didn't get full mouth of snow and I could catch a breath before I managed to dig myself out. I think also in this situation, it could have been quite useful. But of course, first of all they should wear a beacon and have shovel and probe. Thanks for this vid, as I will share it with all my retarded friends that don't wear one and think the avalanches are for some other people.
Das 'retarded friends' war die beste Wendung haha 😂
I agree, this is the precisely he kind of small avalanche that an avalung is perfect for.
While I think the nature of this avalanche wouldn’t allow an airbag to function to its fullest, I disagree and think he had plenty of time to pull the cord.
All I can say is that you guys are damned lucky and I hope you have learned from the experience.
awesome rescue! youre all calm and smart!
Good job guys!
Is there more to this video?
This guy is so lucky, my god.. so many mistakes! gloves off was fucked up