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Three Australians who survived the deadly Californian avalanche have documented the moments before and immediately following the natural disaster.
Siblings Hannah Sugerman and Oliver Thompson along with Hannah’s partner, the Inspired Unemployed’s Callum Wishart, were on the mountain at Palisades Tahoe on Thursday morning when the avalanche occurred.
In footage that Ms Sugerman shared on Instagram one of the men can be seen skiing off down the busy mountain.
“Moments after this video we had the scariest experience of our lives,” she wrote.
The footage was captured at 9.21am, moments later disaster struck.
The trio were caught in the landslide after a fierce storm left snow pummelling down the mountain which left a total of three injured and another person dead.
The her next video dozens of people can be seen on the mountain, poking long sticks into the snow, presumably looking for people buried in the powder.
“Ollie, Cal and I were swept up in an unprecedented avalanche in Palisades Tahoe,” Ms Sugerman’s caption read.
“Ollie went over the cliffs, broke his leg and dislocated his knee. I was buried (head out of snow thank goodness) and I’m pretty sure Cal had the most wild first powder day in his life lol.”
Ms Sugerman and her partner Callum were able to find each other and after a frantic search were able to locate Mr Thompson who was hundreds of metres down the mountain.
He suffered a dislocated knee and fractured tibia and fibula. He had to be sled down the mountain for medical treatment.
She later shared a picture of Mr Wishart with a beer in hand, on a couch with Mr Thompson, also beer in hand, and leg in a brace with crutches.
Mr Wishart also shared a story of the incident with videos post avalanche showing people lined up on the mountain with poles in hand about to go searching the snow.
He also has video’s of Mr Thompson on the ground injured directly after the avalanche waiting for help.
“Oliver got banged up pretty bad,” Mr Wishart wrote.
“Dislocated knee and broken leg. But glad to have everyone in one piece.”
The avalanche claimed the life of one man, a 66-year-old skier who lived in a town nearby, Kenneth Kidd.
It’s not been made clear what caused the avalanche, but heavy snowfall and high winds had been recorded in the area for several days.
The resort released a statement on Facebook highlighting the effort put in by first responders immediately following the avalanche.
“To the 100+ ski patrollers, avalanche rescue dog teams, lift operators, mountain sports school instructors, local agencies, and members of the public who swiftly jumped into action, and the teams that provided coffee & food to first responders,” it read.
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