thePrince Posted April 11, 2006 Report Share Posted April 11, 2006 (edited) Hi folks, this isn't a very well thought out post since I still can't quite believe it myself, and am feeling slightly numbed, so you'll have to bear with me. Well, I'm currently kissing the ground. Nice, sweet, solid ground. Well, here in Scotland we had 4 feet of fresh snow leading up to the weekend, so I went off skiing again (ah here we go). Anyway, I'll cut to the point. Me and a few mates are skiing down this gully (known as the 'Flypaper' - named because of how steep it is - it's how most people want to just cling to it, and not let go), which was absolutely loaded with fresh snow. So we were all eager to lay down fresh tracks on the Flypaper. We had one amazing run down there to start off with. So anyway, it was so good, we decided to do it again. I'm usually out in front, but I hung back to take some photos (with hindsight, thank f*ck I did). I ski after them quickly, and am second down the gully, with one of my mates infront (2 behind). The gap between me and the mate at the front is about 5metres. Anyway, he gets in 2 turns, when a crack appears across the slope, and the whole slope CRUMBLES, RIGHT INFRONT OF ME. Needless to say, I just jammed on the brakes, and watched (nothing else I could do). It was insane. A huge amount of snow, charging down the hill. My mate in the middle of it, then he VANISHED within it. So we're all just swearing, watching this mass of snow tumble down the hill, with no clue of where our friend is. We wait until the slide stops (my mate was carried down 800ft with it!!!!!), then ski down as quickly as we could to get to him. We went down 800ft, until we spotted a ski pole sticking up in the snow, and a glove. Thankfully he was near the surface, but the build up of snow around him was over 3metres deep (we checked with an avalanche probe), so if he wasn't as near to the surface as that it would have taken us much longer to dig him out, and the chances are that he could have died if we didn't find him within 10-15 minutes (if there wasn't a ski pole or glove showing, we wouldn't have known where to start digging). Anyway, hurried digging later, and we got him out. Safe and sound. But he lost his skis in the middle of it. I guess we'll have to go back in a few months when the snow melts. Now I'm just thinking... That could have been me!! I'm getting pretty down about that at the moment. I'm just thankful I stopped when I did to take some photos at the top, otherwise it would have been me out front that triggered that slide. Photos attached!! Somewhere in there... Dig, damnit, dig Thank f*ck. No wonder he's smiling. Path of the slide, 800ft downhill from where it started! Later, digging to try and find his lost skis (didn't find them) Edited April 11, 2006 by thePrince Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Da Brakes Posted April 11, 2006 Report Share Posted April 11, 2006 Wow! You're all very lucky! i'm glad your all ok. I watched a show on avalanches the other day and it wasn't pretty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thePrince Posted April 11, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2006 Yeah man.. He was saying afterwords that he was completely powerless against it, and could do nothing. Said he was thrown everywhere, unable to breath as his mouth had filled with snow, but just tried to focus on keeping something on the surface. Pretty sobering experience, really. :| Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Da Brakes Posted April 11, 2006 Report Share Posted April 11, 2006 Definitely! I would have panicked like crazy! Hasn't this shook you up from going out on virgin snow? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzy Julie Posted April 11, 2006 Report Share Posted April 11, 2006 wow prince, u should stop skiing, what with flying into a tree and puncturing your lung, skiiing into green sludge and now this. Glad every1 is ok! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel Amor Posted April 12, 2006 Report Share Posted April 12, 2006 Yeah man...skiing seems like it hasn't been very good to you. Well anyways glad to know everyone is alright. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonny 5 Posted April 12, 2006 Report Share Posted April 12, 2006 Man, this is some crazy stuff, glad it worked out ok. My brother does all the same kind of stuff you do (I think I've told you this before) but I'm pretty sure the dude's gonna kill himself one of these days, I mean, doing a 13 hour climb up the vertical side of mont blanc, then sleeping whilst just hanging from a rope not even on a ledge, craazy... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3cookies Posted April 12, 2006 Report Share Posted April 12, 2006 whoa. Im glad ur ok Prince, and that you guys got him out safe & soundly... be careful out there, ... after this (and everything Julie metioned), I prollly wouldn't go back for a while... peace, cookie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cristigolo Posted April 12, 2006 Report Share Posted April 12, 2006 glad to see you are alright and that your friend survived Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fan 4ever Posted April 12, 2006 Report Share Posted April 12, 2006 Crazy story man!! Glad you are all alright..!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trey Posted April 12, 2006 Report Share Posted April 12, 2006 (edited) Wow dude, that's crazy! Glad you're all fine. Edited April 12, 2006 by Trey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Willie Posted April 12, 2006 Report Share Posted April 12, 2006 Glad you and your friends are ok man, be careful in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeaceAngel Posted April 12, 2006 Report Share Posted April 12, 2006 Glad to hear everyone's ok! That is once crazy situation there, gotta be more careful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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