Skier Caught in an Avalanche

Steve Gourley was skiing down Davis Gulch in Utah with his GoPro helmet camera on Sunday when he was caught in an avalanche. The hard slab avalanche was unintentionally triggered by another skier, and Gourley was carried along 650 vertical feet, but was not completely buried. He was wearing a backpack with emergency equipment and helmet, but no airbag. He describes his moves in a comment at YouTube.

I was able to get close to the crown and behind a lot of the mass. My main efforts were to try to stay upright and facing downhill. I ended up in a whitewater survival position which was difficult to maintain. Everyone thinks you can swim but the characteristics of the snow do not really allow for that. When you try to push off or pull on it, there may be no purchase. When you reset to try again, you can create negative gains and start to roll. I want to say the extra surface area with my poles helped to stabilize and stay on top.

We're glad he made it back okay. Despite the lighthearted music, this was a scary episode. (via Digg)