Boarder Unstraps and Gets Into Serious Trouble
Snowboarder Soren Arnevik posted a video to YouTube of a terrifying experience he had while riding Slushmans Ridge.  We came across the video thanks to a post by Unofficial Networks, who titled their post "This is Why You Should Never Take Your Snowboard Off In Steep Terrain".
Arnevik had gotten himself into a bit of trouble by riding into an area that was too steep and too rocky for his skill level. Â His idea was that it would be safer to try and walk down this section. Â The issue was, he lost his grip, and without the edge of his board to cut into the snow, there was nothing to stop him.
In his own words (from his post to YouTube):
I started at the top of the ridge for the first time on Slushmans at Bridger Bowl with my Gopro recording. Snow was pretty good but it was a pretty intense slope for being new to that terrain. I came up on some rocks that I knew I couldn't get around so I thought if I took off my board to walk around it would be smart... My board started to slip away and as I frantically grabbed for it I started to fall, uncontrollably down the rocky slopes. Spinning, I turned around to look behind me and got shot off a cliff, Gopro doesn't do it justice. The camera falls off my head as I continue another few hundred feet down the cliff. A ski patrol, Phil, finds it and puts it in his pocket as it's still recording. He comes across me and it records his conversation with me on the scene. I had a laceration of 6-8 in. across my head and down to my brain (and a unknown broken neck at the time). More medics came as they loaded me on the stretcher and skied me to a snowmobile that took me down the hill. Falling around 500 ft I ended up breaking my C3 (Cervical 3) on my neck, luckily missing my nerve connected to my diaphragm that could've stopped my breathing. Also came out with no brain damage, which is a miracle, as my brain was exposed (wasn't wearing a helmet, fucking dingus). Thankful I'll be alright in the long run, its unreal I am the way I am.
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The disaster starts at the 4m11s mark.
You can see where ski patrol finds the GoPro at 11m25s.
"How bad are you buddy?", as ski patrol finds Arnevik at 12m55s.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Swm8vPUjfDE?t=4m11s[/youtube]