A snowboarder has shared a GoPro video of himself staying remarkably calm as he's tossed down a mountain by an avalanche, with a Grateful Dead song playing as the snowpack comes loose beneath his feet.
"Oh shit, it's an avalanche," Reddit user SheWasIntoTheBlues deadpans in the video, which he shared on the Grateful Dead subreddit last week. As Ian Greenwood of Snowbrains says, it's comic at first.
The boarder starts out well, keeping his feet beneath him to protect his head, but gets rolled over and ends up falling face-first. The reality of the situation finally sets in when he comes to a rest, but he is mercifully unharmed.
Got into an avalanche today right as Goin Down the Road Feeling Bad was playing from r/gratefuldead
The snowboarder confirmed in the comments that he always carries an avalanche beacon, shovel, and probe. He said he heads out with a buddy unless he's sticking to low-angle terrain, but as he discovered, that doesn't guarantee safety.
"This was in Utah up Provo Canyon," he wrote. "It warmed up quicker than expected and caused it to weaken and slide."
There is currently a high avalanche risk warning for the Provo Area Mountains, for all aspects and elevations. The Utah Avalanche Center warns that wet loose, wet slab, and glide avalanches are all expected, and can run a long way onto areas that currently have little or no snow, including trailheads and spring hiking trails.
"Warm temperatures will create widespread areas of unstable wet snow," warns the center. "Natural and human-triggered cornice falls and wet avalanches are likely. People should avoid being in avalanche terrain (off of and out from under slopes steeper than 30°) and stay clear of avalanche run-outs on all aspects and elevations."
