WATCH ABOVE: One minute he was skiing down a slope, the next plunging into an icy grave. New video shows the scary ordeal a French man survived while skiing in the Alps. Don Champion reports.
TORONTO – An experienced skier went for the ride of his life just over a week ago – falling through the snow into a crevasse and he captured the entire experience on camera.
Benjamin Spilthooren had just started his downhill run May 24 with his father, Roland, on Strahlhorn in the Swiss Alps when the ground suddenly fell out from under him and he was sent tumbling down into a crevasse.
A camera mounted to his helmet captured the entire ordeal.
“When looking at the video it seems that there is a small depression at this point, but it is not very obvious,” Spilthooren said in a translated Skipass interview.
Staring up at safety and clinging on to avoid falling further, he began to call for help while his party continued down the mountain.
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“I thought my voice would be deadened by the crevasse,” he said in French. “You scream as loud as you can, as long as you have your voice.”
A Swiss guide heard his calls and rushed to help.
Spilthooren reached the surface unharmed after spending approximately 30-minutes stuck wondering if he’d make it out alive.
He eventually started to make his way down Strahlhorn on just one ski before a helicopter arrived to bring him the rest of the way.
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