Skier’s Helmet Camera Captures ‘Breathtaking’ Avalanche Footage
A skier has posted terrifying footage of himself being caught up in an avalanche as he was moving down a mountain.
A YouTube account in the name of Steve Gourley posted the video filmed on Sunday while on Gobblers Knob, Salt Lake County, Utah.
According to the Utah Avalanche Center, there were three skiers one of which unintentionally triggered a hard slab avalanche.
The other two were able to get to safety but Gourley was caught right in the middle of the slide.
The video has Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Music on the Dancefloor (from the Saltburn movie) playing on the video because the live audio is NSFW.
“It may be some of the most breathtaking avalanche footage I’ve ever seen,” Drew Hardesty, a forecaster at the Utah Avalanche Center, tells KPCW. “Super close call.”
After the snow collapsed beneath his skies, Gourley slid over 2,000 feet down the mountain reaching speeds of 27 miles per hour. He was extremely lucky that he did not hit any objects and slid to a halt safely.
“Three skiers approached Gobblers south summit (10,224) from the north,” writes the Utah Avalanche Center.
“After reaching the summit, skier one skied the ridge to the west of Davis Gulch and radioed when they were in a good spot. Skier two entered Davis Gulch and skied 400 vert pulling out of the run to the northeast.
“Skier three watched skier two pull up and entered following the same line. Two hundred (feet) into the run, skier three (Steve) caused a hard slab avalanche that shattered 50 meters below and over to the ridge west of Davis Gulch. Skier two shouted at skier three and then to skier one.
“Skier one moved to a safer area. Skier two kept eyes on skier three (Steve) and started to ski down the slope. Skier three (Steve) was carried 650 vert reaching a speed of 27 mph, losing a pole and needing to dig out one ski to be free from the debris. After the initial avalanche, the entire west side of the gulch was sympathetically released. The final debris pile was way down around 7,800 feet.”
Image credits: Steve Gourley
