Snowboarders aren’t the only ones getting a heap of blessing on the hillside, it seems that God loves skiers too. Scandi ripper Patrik Lilja, narrowly misses beheading a ski child in this clip. The nipper has decided to sit down next to a box that Patrik’s sliding but some quick thinking saves the mini gaper’s noggin.

http://vimeo.com/6581009This clip is a stomach churner. Haines Alaska, 2008, a skier drops in on an untested back country line. Within seconds he’s sliding down the mountain in the center of a powerful avalanche. What follows is four and a half minutes of claustrophobic, whimpering stillness as the skier’s Go Pro keeps filming, buried deep beneath the snow. Thankfully the group this guy was ski-ing with were properly equipped with probes, shovels and transceivers and the buried skier was rescued in less than five minutes. That doesn’t seem like long but try watching the whole clip and picture yourself there, buried in the white. The sense of relief when that last shovel of snow is removed and you can see sky again is immense. So next time you’re out on the mountain, pack the right gear, know what you’re doing and say a little prayer before you drop!

Have we missed any other particularly close calls? If so, feel free to share them with us in the comments section below!