The key facts

  • Guide Igor Lysenko was caught in an avalanche near the village of Priiskovoye in Khakassia while scouting a route for his group.
  • Colleagues dug him out from under a meter of snow; by his estimate, being found within 10–15 minutes was critical.
  • No one was injured, and after the incident the group continued riding.

Avalanche and rescue

In the area of the village of Priiskovoye in Khakassia, a 39-year-old freeride guide, Igor Lysenko, was caught in an avalanche. He told the story himself in an interview with 360.ru, which is cited by Gazeta.Ru. According to him, he was scouting the route for his group when two members failed to hear the warning and approached a snow cornice; the sliding snow mass swept away the guide, who was standing near the edge of the slope.

How he survived

Lysenko attributed the favorable outcome to basic avalanche survival skills, which, in his words, are part of a guide's job: he managed to stay closer to the surface. 'I know how to position myself in an avalanche, so I ended up in the upper layers. There was only a meter of snow above me, while the whole avalanche was about six meters deep. I just lay there and could hear the guys searching for me,' Gazeta.Ru quotes him as saying. Colleagues who were nearby quickly located him and dug him out. In Lysenko's own assessment, if he had not been found within 10–15 minutes, he would not have survived. No one was injured, and after the incident the group continued riding.

Context

The article comes amid other reports about the consequences of avalanches: earlier, according to Gazeta.Ru, a dog was found alive two days after an avalanche. No official statements from state authorities about the Khakassia incident appear in the available publications — the information about it is based on the account of the victim himself.