Nothing can prepare us for everything when accidents are bound to happen.
In just a split second, things can go from bad to worse. But sometimes, luck can be on your side, and you might just live to tell the tale.
It happened in a flash.
It was just a normal day for skier Francis Zuber as he and his friend were going down a slope on Mount Baker.
As they skied into the snow, something caught his eye and he immediately knew what was going on.
It was just a flash of color.
Mountains are unpredictable.
Francis came to a halt soon after he noticed the snowboard, which was noticeable right away due to its contrasting color with the snow.
Ian Steger is an experienced snowboarder.
And yet, he was trapped below a pile of snow and needed to be saved as soon as possible.
Using his hands, Zuber removed the snow until he saw a pair of hands.
He then carefully removed the snow covering Steger’s face to clear his airways so he could breathe properly.
He was moving.
Zuber asked if the man was okay, to which Steger replied with a sigh of relief.
They both took the time to breathe and compose. Then Zuber went on to shovel the rest of the snow so Steger could jump back on his feet.
“To see this little flash of color was just very strange. It caught my attention enough to make me stop and turn around, and reassess,” Zuber said in an interview with local news.
“In that specific scenario, it happened so fast that there was really little time to think about what was happening,” shared Steger during the interview.
Zuber’s instinct and quick action to clear the snow from Steger’s face was vital.
He did not know how long Steger had been there or if he was breathing properly with all the snow on top.
He didn’t waste any time.
Steger mentioned that while he was still trapped in the pile of snow, he was able to shove some out of his mouth and used his jacket to cover it so he wouldn’t swallow any snow.
That bought him time while waiting for rescue.
“It was kind of like dumb luck that he happened to come upon me,” said Steger. “But when he did find me, he did all the right things,” he added.
Zuber further explained that tree wells are common and they are most of the time the causes of accidents during skiing or snowboarding.
Tree wells, also known as spruce traps, are spaces around a tree just below its branches that don’t get the same amount of snow as the surrounding open space.
Within that area lies loose snow, less dense, and very dangerous to people.
It can be compared to quicksand.
They’ve caused fatalities before.
Non-avalanche deaths are sometimes caused by tree wells.
Even with Steger’s 30-year experience in snowboarding, he was unprepared for what happened after he was caught in one.
A day on Mount Baker that turned into a near-death experience for one, and a heroic experience for another.
It just goes to show that you never know what kind of day you’ll have on the mountain.
See Steger’s rescue firsthand in Francis’s bodycam footage below!
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