Here’s Harry’s avalanche: ‘I thought I was going to die’

A group of nine UK and US tourists were on a guided hiking tour in the Tian Shan Mountains in Kyrgyzstan when they were surprised by a sudden avalanche.

A British tourist, Harry Chimin, had been walking away from the group to take nature photos when he suddenly heard a “thick icicle” cracking behind him.

He managed to capture the entire sequence of events on film. In the video, a white streak of snow falls over a nearby mountain before turning into a thundering tidal wave of ice and snow. Soon an avalanche over them.

“I waited until the last minute to move in, and yes, I know it would have been better to go to the shelter immediately. I am fully aware I took a big risk,” Harry Shemen wrote below his uploaded video Youtube.

He says he saw a place next to him where he could hide, which made him feel like he was in control of the situation.

But when the snow began to fall on him and breathing became darker and harder, he was afraid:

“I thought I was going to die.”

When the avalanche subsided, the stunned Harry Shimin realized that he was only covered in light powder snow and ran away without a scratch. The rest of the group also performed well. One fell off his horse and another hit his knee, but they were all alive and unharmed.

He writes: “The whole group laughed and cried, happy to be alive.”

“And only later did we realize how lucky we were. If we went five more minutes into our walk, we would all die.”

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