Hero Skier Saves Buried Snowboarder Trapped in a Tree Well
Daniel Bonfiglio
Published
04/04/2023
in
ftw
Francis Zuber was skiing down Washington state's Mt. Baker on a high powder day when he stumbled across a snowboard sticking out of a drift. It was attached to Ian Steger, who had just fallen head-first into a tree well and been buried alive. "When I saw that there was a snowboard upside down and it was wiggling back and forth, you know, that's when I knew," Zuber said speaking to K5, "this guy needs to be rescued right now."
Two minutes after seeing the board, Zuber was able to free Steger's face. He then broke out his portable shovel to dig Steger the rest of the way out. The dramatic footage was captured from Zuber's Go Pro, and posted to his Instagram on March 26th, where it has racked up almost 30 thousand likes.
"I'm trying to do all those things that you say you're going to do and you find that you never have time for," Steger said. Both experienced riders urge everyone to be aware of the dangers and get trained. "The mountains don't care how much skill or experience you have," Zuber writes in his post. "Take an Avy 1 course, and get trained on what to do if you find yourself in this situation. I'm thankful I knew just enough to scrape by and perform a successful rescue. And always look out for each other out there."
Two minutes after seeing the board, Zuber was able to free Steger's face. He then broke out his portable shovel to dig Steger the rest of the way out. The dramatic footage was captured from Zuber's Go Pro, and posted to his Instagram on March 26th, where it has racked up almost 30 thousand likes.
"I'm trying to do all those things that you say you're going to do and you find that you never have time for," Steger said. Both experienced riders urge everyone to be aware of the dangers and get trained. "The mountains don't care how much skill or experience you have," Zuber writes in his post. "Take an Avy 1 course, and get trained on what to do if you find yourself in this situation. I'm thankful I knew just enough to scrape by and perform a successful rescue. And always look out for each other out there."
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This man is a HERO‼️ Francis Zuber ‘s headcam shows him rescuing a snowboarder who was buried head down in deep powder at Mt. Baker, Washington! Luckily, he spotted him as he almost passed him. #skiing #snowboarding pic.twitter.com/SyWYFSXcPd
— DeL2000 (@DeL2000) April 1, 2023
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