http://www.videosift.com/video/Skier-Buried-In-An-Avalanche

This video has been declared a duplicate; transferring votes to the original video and killing this dupe - dupeof declared by maatc.

*dupeof=http://www.videosift.com/video/Skier-Buried-In-An-Avalanche

Sorry this ones a dupe. Not going to call dupeof just yet, due to its recent promote. http://www.videosift.com/video/Skier-Buried-In-An-Avalanche

Gripping stuff. The vimeo page has a more detailed description should you want to read more about what happened. Here's a quick snippet:

This was a decent sized avalanche. 1,500 feet the dude fell in a little over 20 seconds. The crown was about 1 - 1.5m. The chute that he got sucked through to the skier's right was flanked on either side by cliff bands that were about 30m tall. He luckily didn't break any bones and obviously didn't hit anything on the run out.

He was only buried for 4 and a half minutes which is incredibly short. I cannot stress these next sentences enough; that in and of itself to be unburied in ONLY 4:28 is miraculous if you have any understanding of being caught in an avalanche and what it takes to be found. It could literally be some kind of "world record" just on how good the guide and supporting cast of other skiers was in getting to him. It also shows why you should ALWAYS be going with people trained in avalanche rescue / first aid....as well as why you'd want to be going with a guided heli operation. Sure this was terrifying for him, but he would've probably been dead if not for going with a guide.

http://www.videosift.com/video/Skier-Buried-In-An-Avalanche
Yours has a much better thumbnail pic, however

I thought RFID or GPS tracers would have eliminated the guesswork in finding skiers.

Your video, Skier Buried In An Avalanche, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

This video has been declared a duplicate; transferring votes to the original video and killing this dupe - dupeof declared by nomino.

*dupeof=http://www.videosift.com/video/Skier-Buried-In-An-Avalanche

dupey-dupe: http://www.videosift.com/video/Skier-Buried-In-An-Avalanche

Tags for this video have been changed from 'ski, gate, men understand' to 'ski, gate, men understand, groin, balls, skiing, slalom, super g, french, skier, fail' - edited by EDD

What happened...this is a ridiculous thing to be able to land. Isn't it the point to jump as far as you can???

Rottenseed: The point isn't to go as far as you can, the skier is supposed to hit a sweet spot. Skiers lose points for over or under shooting the landing, and they can also lose their lives since that is the safest point to land. Some points are also given for style.

(Learned that from the Winter Olympics in Utah.)

Dupe: http://www.videosift.com/video/Another-Day-in-the-life-of-an-Insane-Skier (last of the 3)

I performed some of these when I was overcome by gravity on a double-diamond ski slope last week, although I didn't stick my landing. Nevertheless, I was given a perfect 10 by my fellow skiers who helped clean up the trail of debris.