A dramatic video shows the moment a skier gets caught in an avalanche and plummets down a mountain
Amber Baesler for The Washington Post via Getty Images
- A skier filmed the moment he was caught in an avalanche in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
- Dramatic GoPro and drone footage show Owen Leeper falling down the steep mountain.
- Leeper said he felt lucky to have escaped with minor injuries.
A dramatic video shows the moment a skier found himself caught in an avalanche in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Owen Leeper, a professional big mountain skier, was filming himself with a GoPro attached to his head when an avalanche knocked him off his feet.
He can be heard yelling an expletive as he starts to fall down the mountain and hits some rocks on the way down.
Leeper wrote on Instagram that he dislocated his shoulder and had to get stitches in his knee.
"I feel very lucky I made it out with minor injuries," he said.
He shared another video of the incident filmed by a drone, which shows the steep angle and distance of the fall. At one point, one of his skis can be seen coming off.
Leeper described the moment that the avalanche struck and said he was unable to inflate his avalanche airbag, a device that reduces the chances of being completely buried by an avalanche.
"I tried digging my hands in to stop me from sliding, but the snow grabbed my skis. I tried to reach for my airbag, but my shoulder was buried in the snow, and I couldn't get to it before bracing for impact on the rocks," he wrote on Instagram.
Leeper said that after the fall, he realized he had dislocated his shoulder and called a friend for help. When they were unable to pop it back in, they called for a search and rescue team which took him to the hospital.
"Every day in the mountains is risky. There isn't one day of the season where the avalanche danger is 'none,'" Leeper wrote.
"Every backcountry skier understands the risks. The important thing is to minimize risks where possible, but you can't remove all risk while pursuing extreme skiing."
If caught in an avalanche, skiers are advised to try to grab onto anything solid to avoid being swept away, keep their mouths closed and try to move to the side of the avalanche.