POV Falls in Scotland and Europe

Go Pro cameras have changed climbing and skiing. Now we get to see what the most extreme climbers and skiers see when they are in the mountains.

And we get to see what happens to them when they fall or they get buried in an avalanche...

We have featured a number of videos on this blog that provide an avalanche victim's perspective. In every case, the victim survived. This past week, two "survivor videos" were uploaded. Each of them show a fall.

This first video was taken by climber Mike Roberts on Scotland's Parsely Fern. The climber is making his way up a moderate slope, solo. When a piece of ice comes down and catches him, he falls...and he falls, and he falls.

It's not clear what kind of injuries he had at the base, but he survived...which is more than most people could say for such a long drop.

To read an interview with Roberts about the incident, click here.

In this second video, it's clear that this snowboarder is in way over his head very early in the game.  The real problems tend to come at the 11:25 mark of the video where he decides to start "scooching" down the snow-slope on his rear-end. Things deteriorate from there...

We can learn from these incidents.  

In the first, the climber was in terrain that he was comfortable with and he had wo tools, which theoretically would give him a bit of a self-belay.  However, he is soloing beneath a climber on ice.  And ice that you hit with a pick tends to fracture and fall. I would suggest that he put himself in a dangerous predicament by being below another climber.

In the second video, we see a very young man on a route that is way over his head. There has been a push for young skiers and snowboarders to attempt harder and harder lines. This is certainly due to the fact that there is fame for a small number of these individuals that push the limit... 

But if you're going to push the limit, you should work your way up to it. Try things that are a little harder than the last thing you successfully completed. Don't try to be Jedi Master on the tenth day of your ski season... Ski smart and stay within your ability.

--Jason D. Martin