A routine day on the Swiss slopes quickly turned into a desperate race against time when a skier was found buried beneath an avalanche.
Dramatic footage captured the moment from the helmet camera of Matteo Zilla, who was skiing across a seemingly steady mountainside in Engelberg.
The 37-year-old creative director came to an abrupt halt after spotting something unusual in the snow-covered distance.
To Zilla’s shock, a lone arm was sticking up from the thick, freshly fallen snow.
Initially, he believed he was approaching someone who had simply misplaced their skis, recalling having seen a man earlier struggling to walk uphill without them.
But in an instant, the gravity of the situation became horrifyingly clear.
As Zilla later explained, “I saw a guy far away who was trying to walk up without skis, so I thought maybe he had lost them and I went down to help search.
“But then I turned my head and saw a foot sticking out of the snow.”
Realising the man was entirely buried beneath the snow, Zilla broke into a sprint, adrenaline coursing through him as every second was critical.
In the footage, Zilla can be heard calling out reassurances – “I’m coming, all good!” – as he pushes his way through the dense, heavy snow.
The buried skier’s arm trembled faintly above the snow as Zilla dug with urgency, swiftly clearing the snow from the man’s face and mouth to help him breathe.
Recalling the moment, Zilla said, “I immediately went over and removed the snow from his face and mouth, speaking to him to check if he was injured.”
With the man no longer at risk of suffocation, Zilla resumed digging with care.
“We realised he wasn’t injured and very slowly removed the rest of the snow from his body,” he said.
It was only later that they fully realised just how narrowly the situation had avoided ending in tragedy.
Against all odds, the skier was rescued and left uninjured.
Zilla later shared the clip online, with viewers praising him for keeping his cool under such extreme pressure.
Reflecting on the rescue, Zilla said, “My emotions were on one side, but they weren’t important.
“The most important thing was saving his life.”
The rescue comes during a deadly stretch for winter sports across Europe.
Over the past month, at least 17 people have lost their lives in avalanches, with authorities warning of “extreme risk” conditions in several regions.
Just days ago, a British skier was killed after being buried by an avalanche at a well-known resort in France.
The man, believed to be in his 50s, was found buried under approximately eight feet of snow after a search that spanned nearly an hour.
Tragically, despite the efforts of emergency responders, he could not be revived.
The accident followed another fatal incident involving a British skier earlier in January.
A 49-year-old man went into cardiac arrest while skiing down a slope in northern Italy.
Images: Instagram
