It may have been just luck , he saw the upside down snowboard on the surface and immediately deduced the likelihood of an attached individual on the shiny side. Or maybe he saw the guy earlier going down the same off trail slope- Not sure if the rescuer was a ski patrol guy or not- thinking maybe, as he had a snow shovel- he also dug the guy out with his hands, one presumes to avoid striking the victim with the shovel. quick work- you don't live long without air.
No kidding, even with the rescuer working as fast as he could, I was surprised that the victim was conscious at all when his face showed. Maybe he had a little pocket of air to breathe, but it looked like the snow was right up against his face.
It's a really interesting sequence to watch. If the rescuer hadn't stopped to clear snow from his (?) GoPro, he would have been moving too fast to see the snowboard. Of such little things are disasters averted or made. It's tremendously challenging to move through that much soft snow. You can see the rescuer struggle. The first dig is with hands in order to create an air path, and you see snow fall back into the hole several times. It's a tough call whether to build a broad path with no refilling of the removed snow (efficient) or just dig for all you're worth to get down to the person's mouth (effective). I think the rescuer made the right choice. Once air and communications are established, some of the haste abates, the shovel comes out, and a full rescue begins.
I can tell you that being the practice victim on an avalanche dog exercise is not a comfortable experience, and you really understand how terrifying it is when snow falls down in front of your face. I can't imagine how bad it was for the guy down in the tree well.
In light fluffy snow like that, it's a little porous at first- the problem comes when your exhaled breath condenses on the snow, and starts to seal that porousness with a layer of ice. Then you can't breathe at all.
If you ski/snowboard much, you know of the danger of falling into a tree well as that snowboarder did, so as soon as you see the upside-down board there, and no one looking for it, the thought would immediately be they're under it, head down in the tree well.
The best tool the rescuer had was his fitness. He made good time digging down by hand to create a passageway.
I watched that video recently. It's hard to tell how he knew the snowboarder was there at all, but I guess it was clearer in person. Good work.
ReplyDeleteIt may have been just luck , he saw the upside down snowboard on the surface and immediately deduced the likelihood of an attached individual on the shiny side. Or maybe he saw the guy earlier going down the same off trail slope- Not sure if the rescuer was a ski patrol guy or not- thinking maybe, as he had a snow shovel- he also dug the guy out with his hands, one presumes to avoid striking the victim with the shovel.
ReplyDeletequick work- you don't live long without air.
No kidding, even with the rescuer working as fast as he could, I was surprised that the victim was conscious at all when his face showed. Maybe he had a little pocket of air to breathe, but it looked like the snow was right up against his face.
ReplyDeleteIt's a really interesting sequence to watch.
ReplyDeleteIf the rescuer hadn't stopped to clear snow from his (?) GoPro, he would have been moving too fast to see the snowboard. Of such little things are disasters averted or made.
It's tremendously challenging to move through that much soft snow. You can see the rescuer struggle.
The first dig is with hands in order to create an air path, and you see snow fall back into the hole several times. It's a tough call whether to build a broad path with no refilling of the removed snow (efficient) or just dig for all you're worth to get down to the person's mouth (effective). I think the rescuer made the right choice.
Once air and communications are established, some of the haste abates, the shovel comes out, and a full rescue begins.
I can tell you that being the practice victim on an avalanche dog exercise is not a comfortable experience, and you really understand how terrifying it is when snow falls down in front of your face. I can't imagine how bad it was for the guy down in the tree well.
In light fluffy snow like that, it's a little porous at first- the problem comes when your exhaled breath condenses on the snow, and starts to seal that porousness with a layer of ice. Then you can't breathe at all.
ReplyDeleteIf you ski/snowboard much, you know of the danger of falling into a tree well as that snowboarder did, so as soon as you see the upside-down board there, and no one looking for it, the thought would immediately be they're under it, head down in the tree well.
The best tool the rescuer had was his fitness. He made good time digging down by hand to create a passageway.