Intense Footage From Skier's Helmet-Cam As He Barely Saves His Friend In Time From Avalanche

March 19, 2015

"The 30th of January 2015 is a day that will forever be ingrained into my memory as the scariest day of my life," James Mort writes on his blog.

If not for his quick-thinking and three brave friends, it would have been the last memory of his life.

skier saved from avalanche video
YouTube - See video below

While skiing in Les Crosets on the Swiss/French border, James and a few friends were hit with a large snowstorm that dumped close to three feet of snow over a 48 hour period.

The group skied into a small V-shaped valley and that's where everything went wrong. James went as fast as he could in order to outrun the avalanche but ended up slamming into a shoulder high wall of snow that stopped me dead in my tracks. He could only watch as the avalanche buried him.

"The last thing I managed to do before I was completely buried was to reach as high as I could above the snow with my left arm and ski pole. This may have ultimately saved my life," James shared.

He added: "As the snow piled higher and higher, It became darker and darker until I was surrounded by an eerie black silence, broken only by the sound of my slow breathing and racing heartbeat. "Okay," I thought to myself. "You’re dead." I had a shovel and probe in my backpack and I was wearing a transceiver, however, the others were only carrying a shovel and probe. I was convinced that they would not find me in time. Unable to move I focused on slowing my breathing, relaxing and conserving oxygen. I felt bizarrely emotionless and wondered for a moment what death would be like. Then I remembered that I was reaching upwards with my left arm, ski pole still attached. I tried to wiggle my hand and I felt a ‘pop’ as the top 5cm of the pole broke the surface of the snow. Suddenly emotion flooded through me as I realized that Andrew, Dan and Leonard would be able to locate me under the snow if they saw the tip of the pole. However I still forced myself to remain calm as I sat in wait."

His friends, Dan and Leonard, were able to do just that while another friend, Andrew, went to get help from ski patrol. Here is the intense helmet-cam footage of Leonard digging deep into the snow to find James' helpless body: