Mountain Climber's Terrifying 100-Foot Fall Captured on His Helmet Cam
After a chunk of ice was inadvertently dislodged by another mountain climber above him, Mark Roberts was sent shooting down Parsley Fern Gully in Snowdonia without any means of slowing down.
Finally coming to a stop some 100 feet later, Roberts was lucky to be alive. Luckier still, his helmet cam recorded the entire incident from start to crash landing.
From the British Mountaineering Council (BMC):
During the rescue, the [Mountain Rescue Team] noticed he was wearing a helmet-cam on, and afterwards he offered the footage to the team, and the BMC, to help others understand just how accidents can happen. Sharing such an intense and personal experience online is pretty brave, but Mark felt other climbers might learn from his experience.
A member of the Mountain Rescue team credited the helmet with saving the 47-year-old's life.
Roberts, a safety consultant by trade, later told the BMC he recognized the irony inherent in his fall. "You have to laugh sometimes," he said, "but, seriously, even with experience of risk assessment and making decisions, sometimes things just happen. When it all happens so quickly, you just try not panic and hope there's some luck with you."
