Video captures the moment a snowboarder and skier survived an avalanche that occurred in the White Mountains of New Hampshire at the end of February.
R.J. Phipps visited Tuckerman Ravine on Feb. 25 to take pictures and ended up capturing the avalanche on his camera, WMTW reported. A skier and snowboarder ascended Lion Head Trail with the intention of descending down a route in Tuckerman Ravine, according to a press release from the Mount Washington Avalanche Center.
Before ascending the mountain, the duo read the avalanche forecast at Pinkham Notch Visitor Center. They reportedly had backcountry experience and were carrying avalanche rescue equipment. At the top of Lion Head, the pair decided to descend The Lip, a section of terrain that rolls into Tuckerman Ravine, according to the press release.
An onlooker who shot video of a snowboarder narrowly escaping an avalanche in New Hampshire describes the horror he experienced while witnessing the incident. https://t.co/oyLoW9lfyy pic.twitter.com/NfjAb6mpaq
— The Associated Press (@AP) March 2, 2023
“It kind of sounds a little bit like a freight train,” Phipps told WMTW, speaking about the avalanche he witnessed. (RELATED: Barking Dogs Reportedly Rescue Hikers From Avalanche)
The snowboarder descended on the steepest part of the trail first, and waited for the skier to descend the same section before slabs of snow started falling, another video of the moment shows.
“It seemed like minutes but it was seconds,” Phipps added.
While both the skier and snowboarder were unscathed in the incident, the avalanche was powerful enough to potentially bury and kill them, according to the Mount Washington Avalanche Center.