BURIED ALIVE
Harrowing moment Brit snowboarder is dug out by rescuers after she was buried under an avalanche in Switzerland
HARROWING video shows a British snowboarder fighting for breath after she was buried by an avalanche in Switzerland.
A group of skiers raced to dig her out with their hands and shovels after she was trapped up to her head.
The moment was filmed by Victor Liebenguth, who was out enjoying the piste with friends when they saw the wall of snow race down the mountainside and bury two women in Verbier.
Victor, a professional snowboarder, said: "We saw the avalanche going down next door Creblet pass. Maybe ten people riding at the same time on the same face.
"No security precautions at all. Unfortunately two girls were snowboarding in the middle of the face and the avalanche hit them so hard."
Verbier ski resort announced that there was a "very high avalanche danger" on on January 30, but according to Victor there were no security precautions at all.
He said that almost a meter of snow had fallen on “a four-weeks-dry terrain,” leading to the avalanche risk.
After spotting the women, he and his group of friends were “the first on site,” and immediately started to do “beacon research,” to find those buried under the snow.
"We quickly found the first one, second one was 230 ft down the face and quickly rescued as well."
In his original Instagram caption Liebenguth warned of free-riding, skiing or snowboarding on open terrain, without proper equipment and knowledge.
He said in the same post that he hopes the footage urges more people to seek proper training and education.
The Verbier Ski Resort posted a statement warning of the high avalanche danger and warned that free-riding and skiing “requires strong knowledge of conditions, terrain and great experience in risk assessment.”
This comes weeks after a young British skier died after crashing into a snow barrier on the edge of the slope on the French Alps.
The 26-year-old had been skiing on a marked ski run in the resort of Les Deux Alpes.
According to local reports, the man was wearing a helmet when he hit the obstacle.
An investigation has been opened into the tragedy which happened on Monday at about 3pm local time.
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The skier had been on the Piste des Fées, a ski run classed as "red" for advanced intermediate skiers.
Medics arrived at the scene but despite attempts to resuscitate the victim he died on the slopes.
A spokesman for the local mountain police said: “An investigation is underway to determine the circumstances of this accident.
"The skier died shortly after our arrival."
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