"Take your time, man......" whew, I was able to finally calm down while just watching this, and laugh nervously in relief!

Being a big guy like I am 6'7" 265lbs and very muscular, people are amazed that my kryptonite is tight spaces. I have been shot twice during 4 deployments to Iraq and I still cruised right thru that, but to be honest, I think I would have completely lost it being buried like that with no ability to move and the constriction that he must have felt around his body. I have no doubt I would have gone into full panic/anxiety mode. Just thinking about it and watching it gave me little body tremors. How did that dude hold it together like that??? Either he is a total badass or perhaps he made peace with the fact he was going to die and if the guy got him dug out, then it was just a "life bonus". I would even be freaking out if I was the guy trying to dig him out because, to me, other than falling thousands of feet to my death, being buried alive would be a very close 2nd to being the worst way to go. LOLOLOL. I can barely type this as I rewatch the video.

I've seen 3 accidents like this, maybe skiers and snowboarders both should carry a GPS beacon or emergency beacon around their neck, something like that. The rescuer here, that shovel surprised me and I'd guess he had several other useful items in that backpack, great idea!

@@veramae4098 they do. He did. He was under the snow and couldn't reach it

@seanrooney4234🤡

the friends did notice! it says in an article that they were freaking about him on the radio! When he hit the tree and fell into the snow, it knocked his radio away!

@@cap-lock9432 As a back mountain boarder, I go with a group of friends and we are constantly yelling at each other on the mountain, and looking over our shoulders to make sure we aren't getting too ahead of the pack for safety. That's what I meant by that.

@@pandagomoo okay!! I have never done anything like that before!! But I wasn’t trying to argue with you about it!

@@pandagomoo As someone who read the comment, you said they didn't notice and pretty much called them careless without any base "did not once glance back" were you part of the group to know that? Even if they had, they wouldn't have been able to get back up anyways, if you saw the original clip of this you saw how hard it was for the rescuer to scale the probably 10 feet between them through the snow, even if they had checked over their shoulders or yelled they would have been helpless, he wouldn't have heard them, they wouldn't have been able to locate him in time. Not to mention that the rescuers partner is out of sight seconds into the original clip. An extremely unfortunate accident that couldn't have had a better ending, I was also brought to tears watching the original clip and I'm glad to have seen the two talking afterwards.

You wept? Do you weep over everything that happens in your life?

I got berried once at a farmers market

I was buried once and even though I was surrounded by people and "knew" I would be okay I *still* remember the terror and panic. He was so calm!

Hehe. Berried. Was it Rasp or Blue?

Where you *strawberried, raspberried, or blueberried?*

My berry popped when I was a 18 year old twink. Someone berried me on Grindr.

I'm so sorry for the loss of your friend

I am so sorry for your friend.

I'm sorry about your friend.

Wow. Not a fun way to die. 😢 Sorry you lost your friend. Soul is eternal. 🧖🏼. My son Died in 2011 & I see him in my dreams. 🌷🌸🌷Life always follows death, fortunately. 🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋

​@Janet Pattison what exactly is a fun way to die to you?

I don't understand how he could breath while buried in snow?

@Blackhole It looks like its all completely compacted around his face though? I guess it wasn't initially but the guy digging moved the snow?

Dude was 100% going to drown in snow, props to the skiers eyesight

@@nicksmith9276 the snow is lightly packed since it was so fresh, if it had been a day passed since it snowed and that snow settled, he wouldve been gone for sure in a couple minutes

​@@truantmale👀 I agree.. fuck, that guy was really blessed

Yeah, very strong guy, good head on him. Would feel safe skiing with him.

@@m.bird. 10/10 would ski again

You can tell that the reporter at the end was crying too.

And hug her!

I can't imagine just being buried alive upside down in ice and just knowing the chance of being found before you die are so slim you just have to know you're going to die. And then someone starts digging around you.

@@dragonsember And then you say, "Take your time, man."

​@@FalconTypo6yes, why not!? 🙂

I read your comment several times, it was just so beautifully and sweetly expressed.

So true. I almost died in a car accident and i'm still in contact with the first responders on scene who happens to be a couple. It was 8 years ago.

​@@altarec123oh nice! 😱🙂

Idk if this counts but as a kid I didn't swim over the surface, just under. So one day I am on the pool at a part that was too deep for me so I swam under to get to the shallow part but I surfaced and still could barely touch the ground, so I started panicking, jumping to get to the edge of the pool but I was running out of air, and I notice there's a dude's back closer than the edge f the pool. So I start jumpig towards him until I'm able to just hold on to his back to catch my breath, neither I nor the dude said anything, I just held on to catch my breath for a minute and continued swimung towards the edge. Idk if he even realized, but he likely saved my life for just standing there lol

Aye. Amazingly lucky. The snow buried him nearly completely - but miraculously just a few inches were left uncovered, enough to just see his snowboard. And also very lucky he got buried with his hand near his mouth - which allowed him to form a small air pocket. Fate surely aligned in his favour that day.

@@crazyhai8155 The fact that he was trapped speaks ill of his destiny, but if we take into account the fact that he met his savior, I imagine that the end of this was to find himself after something so "almost" tragic

​@@juareznahuel6108I think it speaks amazingly of his destiny that he was miraculously saved

He fell right on top of him! That's craaazy.

It looks like brothers reunion. Both with full beards.

Agreed man. It reminds me that there are good people out there!

So a tree well is a hollow spot in the snow ? I was sincerely wondering how this man ended upside down covered in that much snow...

@@KZfaq_deletes_my_comments Yeah it is a hollow spot / spot where the snow is very low density surrounded by higher density snow. Invariably, when falling into one, the skier / boarder goes in head first and their skis or boards get locked into thicker snow above them and snow sort of falls into the cavity where the skiers head and torso lands....they get locked into a position and really can't breathe at all.

@@nlabanok Well someone was looking out for dude that day... Glad he's okay... Thanks for being informative I was looking around for the explanation... Never knew that was a potential danger for snow enthusiast...

@@KZfaq_deletes_my_comments Well if you imagine how snow falls around a tree it's quite easy to imagine. The branches hold the snow up, but as soon as something heavier gets on them, they bend down and you fall down while being burried.

I mean... there's a reason why these places are out of bounds, they're NOT meant to be skiied on, this would never happen inside designated areas. I do a lot of skiing myself, but I never go out of bounds because you never know when stuff like this happens.

Yes, exemplary communication.

Media only cares about views . That being said =tree well also known as a spruce trap.

Thumbs up!

The reporter mentions Tree Well and what they are at 0:24

@@MegaChris456 You're right, it's a passing comment, but it IS the word "Tree Well" which is what I asked for Dx. But yea, the idea was to raise awareness about the risks of tree wells. They kill too many snowboarders every year.

@@Selfg12 Yeah I agree with you on that bro, definitely needs to be more awareness for these natural killers.

This is why we have radios in my group

​@@johnnyvivic8730 Think this guy even had a transponder on him. He was just flash locked in place and couldn't reach it.

@@junioraltamontent.7582 Yeah I thought about that. I've got an emergency satellite beacon in my avy bag waist pouch and a radio mic mounted on my shoulder strap. But no matter how close help is, if you can't reach it, you're screwed! This would be my worst nightmare.

​@@johnnyvivic8730 He did have a radio, but he couldn't reach it or move at all. Agree that the separation shouldn't have happened in the first place, though. Too steep to get back uphill in time to help one's buddy!

For hiking? Nah. Be experienced and prepared for an unexpected overnight and have a satellite communicator with you. Done it many times. Not talking about mountaineering.

He was with friends at first. They got ahead of him. That's what makes downhill sports especially dangerous. Much harder to backtrack.

@@furyofbongos never get too cocky my friend. Have to respect nature

We all die alone, don't we?

@Remi Russo I never understood that phrase. Most of my dead family members died accompanied by other family members or at a hospital surrounded by medics. If you mean alone, as in you being the only one to die, I guess it makes more sense, as long as you don't decide to take anyone else with you

He was likely very panicked the first few minutes and had fought himself to exhaustion trying to escape to no avail. By the time we see him in the video he is likely completely drained of energy both physically and emotionally.

There is trails you follow so this is some what prevented. Don't go off trail and stay with someone and you should be just fine.

@@barryweaver6294 haha, mmmkay.

The runs you'd start off on as a new snowboarder wouldn't have this much powder and tree wells. You can also drown while water skiing.

Dude, you'll be FINE, esp if you stick to the beginner and intermediate runs. Even as your skills increase and you go on the more advanced runs, as long as you follow basic rules, you'll be ok. Also, if you noticed, these guys went out of bounds at their own risk. Don't give up on wanting to try because of this story.

You wouldnt hear a word in this case scenario. The dude was way too much covered from snow, its literally impossible to hear. Dude would have been 100% dead if the other dude didnt pass by sheer and utter luck.

He wasn't alone

@@deprofundis3293 If a partner does not know you are upside down in a tree well , you are alone !

I'm unfamiliar with snow. If you get buried upside down as opposed to rightside up. Why is it so much more difficult? Are you more immobilized? Is the weight of the snow even at a few feet heavy enough to trap you?

They estimate he was buried for 5 mins before Francis came along.

@@digital_gravity That must’ve been a terrifying 5 minutes. Not knowing if anyone would see you, if anyone would find you or notice.

How did he breathe? Can you breathe under there?

@@amysho2192 he had an air pocket that was slowly collapsing. He didn't have much time left.

Saint Francis@@digital_gravity

Well done!

He did have a radio. But that wasn't enough.