…out THIS!
Wow. Scary. Stay safe.
Woah. <4:30 recovery? I’m just blown away…
Is he breathing through an avalung, or is that just distortion (maybe caused by snow in the mic)?
Creepy either way. Nice work by his friend, talk about stepping up under pressure.
Is he breathing through an avalung, or is that just distortion (maybe caused by snow in the mic)?
Creepy either way. Nice work by his friend, talk about stepping up under pressure.
No, it says he didn’t have it in when dropped into the chute but as soon as it started to slide he tried unsuccessfully to put it in.
“He had a Black Diamond Avalung on, but as you can tell from the video while he’s talking as he’s dropping in, it wasn’t in his mouth to start. He tried to shove it in the instant of starting to get sucked down, but it didn’t stay. It was just off to the corner of his mouth he said, and he definitely got snow / ice build up as you’ll see on the second sweep of the mouth by the guide after they get to him.”
I am not entirely sure what the exact situation was. I agree – it wasn’t fully in his mouth. Yet, “…just off to the corner of his mouth…” might mean that it was just barely there, and maybe he was trying to get his lips onto it. At that point, MAYBE he was able to expel some CO2 away from his face.
Aside from the slight ambiguity of the description, the other reason I might wonder if he was successfully using it to a degree is the fact that Black Diamond is actually using this video on their website to promote Avalung.
Now, if the truth of the situation is that he did not at all utilize the device to help him breathe, then that’s pretty unethical and shitty for BD to say, “Look at our product in action! AMAZING!” I tend to think highly of BD in terms of their design, quality, and analysis for all things outdoors, climbing & mountaineering. But … who knows?! :-/
Losing a glove at the last second certainly helps for a visual. But, yeah, still, to pinpoint in <4:30, let alone pinpoint and dig out is a 1 in ???
I’d think that even thought the AvaLung wasn’t fully in his mouth, it was positioned such that he was able to breathe through it - at least partially. You can hear him breathing throughout the entire 4:30, and his RR increases from the midpoint of the video forward. Without it, I doubt that he’d have survived.
Wow, I was getting claustrophobic just watching and listening to his breathing.