Skier Shares POV Footage Of His Run-In With An Avalanche
Malorie Thompson
While a lot of people don't enjoy winter and all the snow that comes with it, there's something to be said about winter sports. Snowmobiling, sledding, ice skating, snowboarding, and skiing are so much fun but they're also quite risky.
For those who enjoy backcountry skiing, risk is the name of the game. There's simply no way to stay completely safe or have predictable conditions when out in the mountains and that's something backcountry skier and mountaineer Owne Leeper knows all too well.
Photo: Instagram/@o_leeps
Recently, he managed to get caught in an avalanche and he filmed the whole thing! He shared the POV footage on Instagarm, writing a detailed post about his harrowing experience.
Thankfully, he managed to escape the avalanche alive, though he did suffer injuries and had to be helicoptered out to the emergency room.
When writing about the incident, Owne said, "The avalanche forecast was moderate, with sunny skies, temps were in the high 20's at upper elevation. I scoped the chute a couple days ago." He said that he wasn't "too worried" about an avalanche because of the recent weather conditions.
Photo: Instagram/@o_leeps
He added that he's "actually skied into this chute twice, and booted back out both times because it was too rocky. I knew I had to take it slow, to see the choke before being able to ski through it."
Unfortunately, on the third turn the snow cracked. Owen said in his post, "I tried digging my hands in to stop me from sliding, but the snow grabbed my skis, I tried to reach for my airbag, but my shoulder was buried in the snow and I couldn't get to it before bracing for impact on the rocks."
After falling further down, he was able to get out of the moving snow and came to a full stop. He immediately felt his shoulder was out and radioed a friend for help.
Photo: Instagram/@o_leeps
Owne said, "We tried to get my shoulder back in, so I could ski down, but had no luck, so we called for rescue and @tetoncountysar flew me out." He added, "It took 3 people to finally get my shoulder back in at the emergency room."
Owen admitted at the end of his post that "Every day in the mountains is risky, there isn't one day of the season where the avalanche danger is 'none.'" As a backcountry skier, he understood the risks and did what he could to minimize them. He said, "I feel very lucky I made it out with minor injuries. I will definitely think about this crash every time I'm out."
You can watch the harrowing footage in the video below:
You can see the drone video of the fall below:
How scary is that?
