CatersMost people would turn and run for their lives if they saw an avalanche coming towards them, but a group of unfortunate filmmakers didn’t have the chance to escape before they were caught in a torrent of falling snow.
In cartoons, avalanches are usually caused by someone shouting too loudly, and involve a wave of snow rumbling down a mountain after which the person who has been submerged pops their head back above the surface and makes a witty comment.
In real life, it’s not quite like that.
Take a look at the scary moment the filmmakers experienced the avalanche first hand:
Even though no one appeared to raise their voice, the freezing floor of the mountain came loose and began to tumble down towards where 52-year-old Paco Roses and his documentary crew were walking.
The Spanish filmmakers were hiking in the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan when the snow began suddenly cascading down before them.
They snapped footage of the scene for a few seconds before realising the huge cloud was hurtling straight for the group, leaving them no choice but to duck among the surrounding rocks for protection.
CatersThe film crew had just barely taken cover when the torrential avalanche started to rain down on them, showering them in unrelenting ice and rock.
The man filming the terrifying scene turned the camera on himself as he sheltered behind a rock, yelling out as he was battered by the falling debris.
I’m not sure what the crew were making a documentary about, but I hope it was avalanches. At least the footage they’d managed to get would be a silver lining to their awful situation.
The cameraman ended up with an impressive snow beard as the frozen water clung to his face, and after a few seconds he dared peek over the rock to see if he could talk to any other members of his crew.
He filmed one of the women he was with trying to shake her arm free of snow – which was probably quite a useless activity, given the situation – before calling out ‘oh my God!’ in response to the chaos that was taking place.
To be fair, ‘oh my God’ was a pretty mild reaction considering they were caught in the middle of an avalanche. Though I suppose they could have been throwing out a few swear words in Spanish which I’ve just failed to understand.
He managed to spot another crew member hiding further away and called out ‘are you okay?’, to which they responded with a wave.
The crew seemed to momentarily lose one of their members as the man behind the camera called out to ask where they were, but thankfully they seemed to locate them before too long.
At least no one got fully submerged in snow like all the TV shows have taught us to expect!
I’m sure the group will be wary of hiking among any snow covered mountains from now on.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.