The scariest video I have ever seen.......

Holy shit. That guy was damn lucky.

^ If the skier hadn't had to dump it to slow down, he'd never have seen the board. In an interview with the snowboarder he was asked what he was thinking and he said: "All I could think of was would I know it when I died". Because snow is such an insulator it wasn't until the skier grabbed his board that he knew someone was there because he heard nothing. My wife makes me watch the video when my ski pass comes in the mail in the hopes one day I will realize how stupid I am to ski alone in the trees. 4-5 skiers die every year due to deep snow immersion.

There;s a self-rescue device built for skiers in avalanches. It's a like a back pack life raft. It inflates with a lighter than air gas that helps to keep the skier above the snow so they don't get buried. I may try to find the video later. Wouldn't do much for you in tree well, though.

I used to have one. It's essentially an airbag in a backpack, but more than a few things have to go right for it to save you which is why people who use them still use avalanche beacons. The good backpacks are bulky and well over $1,000.00. As weird as it sounds, as I approach 70, the idea of dying skiing sounds better lol. This comment usually makes the person I am talking to go nuts, but is it better to die slowly from cancer or quickly doing something you love. I have 3 trips out west planned so we'll see lol.