Near Death Experience

What you are about to read is a true story and happened today on the 11th of March 2009 and I am lucky to be writing this blog.

Last night The Chamonix Valley and St Gervais ski area had a huge dump of snow, there was nearly 2 meters of fresh powder on the mountain and no one on the mountain to track the powder fields before I and my mates had a chance to get to the top of the hill to find some fresh fun.

The main man at Le Terminus is called Mike and he is a top skier and experienced “off pister”. Mike took the group to the top of Mont Joux and then behind the bar at the top of the lift and off the back into fresh powder. The experience was incredible. Mike was flying and the group of 10 soon divided into two groups as we lost the slower powder riders.

I love powder, especially on a board, the experience is like floating on champagne tilting right or left adjusting ones balance to increase speed and determine direction. The key to powder riding is firstly to keep speed high to make sure the board does not dip into the powder and stop and secondly to know where You are going!

We were now in a group of 5, 2 boarders and 3 skiers. The 5 of us headed over to Mont Joly, and the terrain became very flat on piste and both myself and Nick found it hard to keep up with the other three skiers. As we arrived at the next lift Epaule, Nick had been left behind and I decided to stay at the bottom of the lift to wait for him. We both boarded the lift and hoped that Mike and gang would wait for us at the top. When we arrived we could not see our guide.

I suggested to Nick that we should follow the trails off the back of L´Epaule through the powder fields so we could cut back to the red run Marmottes. The powder again was incredible and the plan was genius as this would allow us to cut back to St Nicholas. Unfortunately I had dropped too far down into the powder to traverse back across onto the piste. So I decided the only way to go was down.

This is where I found myself alone on the mountain and very close to God. I followed a set of tracks which I guessed would lead me to safety and then the tracks simply stopped. I surveyed the surroundings and noticed that I was caught in a gully. So I decided to attack the issue and enjoy the ride. As I descended the task of snowboarding down the mountain became drastically more difficult. I found myself weaving in and out of trees and dropping at a rate of nots. After stopping climbing of my board and placing my feet into the powder the snow beneath me fell away and there was a drop beneath me that I would not have got out of if I had fallen through. I then decided to keep my board on as much as I could.

I came to a series of trees and then a cliff jump. I had no choice. I estimate that the drop was at least 15 feet and I jumped, thankfully into powder and not on to rock. Again I moved forward this time with more hesitation, only to find a larger drop beneath me. I took off my board and board slipped through my fingers and dropped off the edge. I managed to drag myself around the cliff edge and slide down the mountain. I then crawled back up the mountain to pick up my trusty board.

It was at this stage when I started to pray. I drank some water from my back pack and headed down, it was the only way I could go. There was times as I followed the line of the crevasse and the water fall when I was surrounded by snow walls. The snow is incredibly heavy and I was tiring, being trapped on the mountain or being engulfed by an avalanche was an increasing possibility. I was on my own for over two hours and time was running out as the sun started to set on the other side of the mountain. I was lucky. I did not panic. I just thought of my children and how far I have come to get to this point. And I was grateful to be alive. Lucky to be a father, lucky to have their mother in my life again, and lucky to be in recovery.

As I continued my way down through the tree line I was hoping to find some form of sign of human life, and there it was. I could see the back of a sign. The sign was 10 feet above me and I had to climb through the powder to read the sign. It read “Danger high risk of avalanche”. And then another sign 10 feet away, an arrow indicating a green run which took me eventually to a small French farming village, then to a road which led to a main road where I was able to hitch a lift back to St Gervais.

A French woman picked me up and drove me back to The Bettex lift in St Gervais spot on time to jump back into the hotel van with my friends who I had lost 3 hours before and to place me back in the hotel ready to play yet another gig in the French Alps. Its quite incredible! This life has thrown me many curve balls and I can honestly say that I have never felt so close to my maker as I did today. I have someone looking after me. And I live to ride another day. Bring it on!