Intense footage from Mont Gautier in the Pennine Alps of Switzerland where professional snowboarder Mat Schaer triggered a massive avalanche moments after dropping into a fresh powder field. Mat somehow stayed on his feet and miraculously rode on top of the avalanche debris as the mountain face crumbled underfoot and made it to a safe zone.
Mat shared the video not out of bravado but as an example to others of how a series of decisions put him in a dangerous situation and what he would have done differently. The first line of defense against avalanche dangers is proper education. To continue or begin your avalanche safety education, please find related resources at Know Before You Go. Be safe out there folks.
Mat Schaer Statement:
I feel very lucky I rode out of this and I’m not showing it out of pride. The mountain is stronger and being humble is the best way to ride longer. However, I feel relevant to analysis and share what happened.
It was January 31st, we finally got a full pow reset after 4 weeks of high pressure and I was excited to start shooting for the movie “From Switerland with Love.” Deep days started early in the week but I was busy at work and could join the crew only on Friday.
On the night before though it rained high and one of the last remaining zones with decent snow was this east face on the Mont Gautier. It was loaded with snow as westerlies were strong during the last storm. Avalanche danger was 3/5. We did a first run and nothing moved (see tracks on the photos). On the 2nd run, I took another entrance to shoot a slash and the whole thing broke on me. So here is what I’ve learned from that event:
1. I was too fired up to start filming and ride some pow again after a full month waiting. Watching people score good runs earlier in the week of course did not calm me down. But the red flags were definitely there; fresh snow with strong winds and fast rising temperature that morning. Wise decision would have been to wait safer conditions.
2. I come to this place each year since a decade. I’ve seen avalanches but always on the lookers’s left (in the cone-like shadow on 1st photo) and much smaller. I was not expecting something that big here. I was overconfident, thinking I knew the place well.
3. The warm-up run gave me a wrong feeling of stability and I let my guard down for the second one. I should not have especially as the sun was starting to heat the face.
4. It’s likely that there was a weak layer 1m deep in the snowpack that I could have identified with a snowpit.
Maybe the only correct decision was to chose a short line with no exposure below (cliffs or terrain traps). I try to only ride that kind of terrain when avy danger is moderate to high.
