The key facts
- A snowboarder fell into an unfrozen stream hidden under the snow near the Vostok cable car
- According to Life.ru, he spent about two minutes under the snow and tried to clear his mouth in order to breathe
- Gazeta.Ru, citing Baza, reports two rescued snowboarders; the resort's administration was unaware of the incident
Fall through the snow near the Vostok cable car
At the Sheregesh ski resort in Kuzbass, a snowboarder fell headfirst into the snow and was unable to get out on his own for about two minutes. This was reported by NGS42.RU, citing which Life.ru provides the details. According to this information, two friends were snowboarding in the forest near the Vostok cable car when one of them fell into an unfrozen stream hidden beneath the snow. At the spot of the fall, the snow depth was several times greater than a person's height.
The rescue and discrepancies in the details
His companion immediately rushed to help, two passing snowboarders joined him, and together the three of them dug the man out. According to the author of the video, the victim began to suffocate and tried to eat the snow to clear space for breathing; he was only able to breathe after rescuers cleared his mouth. The moment of the rescue was captured on video, which appeared on social media on November 5.
Conflicting data on the number of victims
Gazeta.Ru, citing the Telegram channel Baza, describes the incident differently: according to its version, two snowboarders fell through — the first got stuck in the stream, and his friend, who rushed to help, was also buried in snow and got stuck headfirst at a depth of about two meters. According to this version, a pair of snowboarders riding nearby dug them out; no details are given about the victims' condition. Thus, the outlets differ on whether one person or two were rescued, and who exactly dug them out.
The resort's response and the season's status
The Sheregesh administration told journalists that it had received no reports of this incident and had recorded no similar cases this year. Meanwhile, the official opening of the ski season at the resort has not yet taken place, although winter sports enthusiasts are already riding the slopes.
