A skier has counted his blessings for surviving a horror skiing accident when he fell down a huge crevasse in France.
The man escaped death by wedging his skis in snow and ice and the whole ordeal, including his slip into the abyss, was captured on film by his GoPro.
The unnamed man was able to use the pick axe and crampons to climb out of the insane crevasse as his friends lowered down a rope to help.
He has decided to remain anonymous for fear of worrying his family.
“He was really very lucky,” Thibaut Arnould, a friend of the French skier who was there at the time of the incident, told the Telegraph.
He continued: "It was the longest 20 minutes of our lives for us who were far away on the ski lift and had to wait until we were high enough to be able to rescue him.”
The accident happened on the Meije mountain, known for its off-piste and extreme skiing, which overlooks the village of La Grave in the French Alps.
Mr Arnould said he estimates the drop to be at least 15 metres, but it goes even deeper beyond the serac [a block or column of glacial ice] which can be seen in the video.
The skier had set off alone before about ten male and female companions joined him and secured him with rope.
In the video, he slides for several seconds before muttering a French swear word, exhaling and taking off his backpack to get his climbing equipment.
Mr Arnauld said the group were all equipped with harnesses, ice screws and ice axes but the man in the crevasse started trying to pick his way out before they rescued him with the rope.
The incident happened a year ago but the group waited to post it: "We were hesitant to post this video but after taking a step back we thought it was good to do so as a warning to others.
“We let a year pass and then we finally decided to share it. The video is not there to make a buzz but to show how one can be fooled on a descent when being euphoric in the powder, even if you know the glacier of La Grave.”
The video has now been shared thousands of times.
Mr Arnould said: “We knew the video was going to be successful but not to this extent. It's completely beyond us.”
