Snowboarder rescued by stranger: 'I was gonna die on my own'

The fact the skier stumbled upon the snowboarder is nothing short of a miracle. Such a great lad.

When he said “take your time” you can hear a man that accepted his fate. He was ready to die. He expected nothing less. Imagine being buried in 6 feet of snow, alone, with the thought of “I should have never come out here today” and then boom, the light hits you and you see a man with a shovel saying, you’re good bud I got you. Beautiful moment in humanity right here.

That fact that his feet was the only thing sticking out the ground is insane and the guy who saved him is a god damn hero.

This was Mt Baker last year. The boarders partners had already went down leaving their buddy up there prob unaware he had fallen in a tree well. From the stories I've heard these two are now good friends are ride together often. This is a great reminder, always ride trees with a partner and never let them out of your sight.

Never has a snowboarder been happier to see a skier. Humans are amazing.

One of the luckiest dude on the planet. Just the fact someone took the same path and noticed him and saved him in time. Wow. He was 99.99% a goner.

This is literally one of the most amazing videos online, period. The fact he took that dlecific route through those trees exactly where the guy was buried, a miracle. The fact there was just enough room for his feet and snowboard to be sticking out, a miracle. I really wish he could've kept recording to see the look on the other mans face when he gets pulled out. I would imagine he would have been crying in absolute relief and probably owed his life to his savior. Absolutely 100% a miracle.

His exhausted "thank you" breaks my heart

The way you can hear the ski dude getting exhausted after some seconds of digging really shows how hard it is to move this fresh fallen snow. Absolutely heroic of him to realize the presence of the snowboarder and also to realize he has no time to waste.

That’s intense. 2.5 minutes of straight adrenaline and digging to save this guy’s life. Mad props to you sir.

Snowboarder went back to the lodge and had the most surreal, best tasting cup of coffee of his life.

Miracle. Not other words. Not a coincidence. That skier, as others have stated, stumbled upon the boarder buried. Such a random and remote place and fate took him there. God bless the rescuer.

People who never faced deep fresh snow cannot understand how insanely grueling it is to move and dig in such condition. The skier is truly a great man

To those who don’t know, this is called a “Tree Well.” They form when there’s feet of fresh snow that has fallen. Around trees, because of the branches, the snow falls to the ground slightly more separated, with more air gaps, making it much easier to fall in. Please PLEASE if you ever go out on the slopes after a fresh snow, make sure you have at least 1 or 2 buddies with you and you keep track of each other the whole time. There aren’t enough warnings on the slopes for these things, and they aren’t talked about enough. Many people die every year falling victim to tree wells. Stay safe and buddy up!!!

I'm fighting back tears watching this.. Can you imagine this guy's thoughts as he was under there thinking he was going to die..😢

i was already welling up as he was digging but that "thank you" at 3:14 made me cry. What a hero Francis is.

To say Hero is too little. Imagine being prepared with that gear, thinking it’s unlikely it’ll be used, but “just in case.” Great work being prepared, alert, and selfless. We need more like you.

WOW. The snowboarder is INSANELY LUCKY this skier was not only skiing there but managed to notice him. It is great to see, bless them both.

Good job saving the guy. Good eye spotting him before you passed by too. Saved his life for sure.

Gotta love seeing strangers help each other, its a beautiful thing.