Terrifying Video Of A Skier Saving The Life Of A Snowboarder Who Got Trapped In Deep Snow In A Tree Well
This is the scariest god damn thing I've seen in my life. I don't even think I'm exaggerating. This horrified me. I've seen it all- the crazy Russians who dance across bridges, mountain climbers who go up without ropes, but this video, this made my heart beat out of my chest. Just the pure thought of being buried alive in snow freaks me out to my core. I can't think of a scarier fate. You are fully conscious but unable to move or feel anything. You don't know which way is up or down and you can't even dig your way out if you tried, and meanwhile you are quite literally freezing to death. It's a nightmare.
Here's more:
CBC - Francis Zuber, who is from New York, says he was skiing in a remote area on the mountain — located about 140 kilometres southeast of Vancouver — on March 3 when he noticed a flash of red out of the corner of his eye.
The video, which he originally posted to YouTube, shows Zuber struggling to move through deep, powdery snow to get to the snowboarder. With only the board visible, Zuber frantically dug down with his hands at first to expose the snowboarder's face.
Zuber estimates the snowboarder, Ian Steger, had only a few minutes left before suffocating.
The snowboarder then said:
ABC - "You can see in that video that Francis was asking if I was okay," said Steger. "He was letting me know he was coming up to me. I didn't hear any of that. It was complete darkness. I could only hear, you know, the sound of my own breathing."
Steger said he was unsure if he would make it out of the snow alive, leaving him with some terrifying thoughts and a sense of gratitude to have made it out in good shape.
"One of the things that I was thinking about while I was down there was like, wow, like, I'm going to die down here and I'm not going to be able to, you know, tell my fiancee how much I love her," Steger said.
Experts say there was no way for Steger to get out of the snow himself and that he could have died while submerged in the snow.
The incident is a great reminder to always ski with a partner and keep them in sight.
Featured on Barstool
Terrifying. But of course what did they do the next week? Hit the slopes, together!
Amazing.