Video Captures Skier and Dog Caught In Mountain Avalanche
A serene day on the slopes turned into a harrowing fight for survival when Ares Masip, a backcountry skier in the Pyrenees Mountains of Andorra, triggered a sudden avalanche that swept both her and her loyal dog Cim…
A serene day on the slopes turned into a harrowing fight for survival when Ares Masip, a backcountry skier in the Pyrenees Mountains of Andorra, triggered a sudden avalanche that swept both her and her loyal dog Cim down the mountainside — and the entire terrifying moment was caught on video.
Masip had been skiing a familiar line — one she’d tackled multiple times this season — when cracks suddenly spidered through the snowpack beneath her feet. Within seconds, the entire slope collapsed, carrying her downhill in a roaring sea of snow and debris.
At first, Cim avoided the slide. Masip, realizing the danger, desperately tried to shoo her dog away, but Cim — unwilling to abandon his human — followed and was ultimately caught in the avalanche as well.
Miraculously, neither was buried when the snow came to a stop.
Masip, shaken but uninjured, chose to release the footage with a powerful, personal message about avalanche awareness and the psychological traps that can lead even experienced skiers into danger.
Avui he desencadenat una allau. Comparteixo el vídeo simplement per explicar què ha passat. És un lloc molt conegut per mi. Aquest any hi he baixat 7 o 8 vegades. I, dels últims 5 dies, avui n’era el tercer cop. El BPA marcava risc 1–2. Hi havia traçades fresques d’avui mateix. I és una pala amb una línia d’arbres. Aquest matí m’he llevat com el dia, una mica amb el cap nuvolat, bastant espesa i em feia mandra fer activitat molt llarga i complexa. Així que he anat a fer una volteta curta per cansar en Cim i tornar cap a casa. Tot plegat han sumat molts factors que m’han fet pensar que era segur. I aquí és on entra, el que es coneix com a trampa heurística (no en tenia ni idea del concepte, gràcies @lorelei_th per l’explicació!), un biaix mental que et fa simplificar la realitat i sobrevalorar la seguretat quan, objectivament, el risc hi és: lloc conegut, suposat risc baix, repetició recent, objectiu poc ambiciós… No és que les condicions fossin segures, és que semblaven segures. Però va bé recordar que el risc 0, simplement, no existeix. Avui ha quedat en un ensurt i en una bona lliçó a nivell personal. Si a algú li serveix per no abaixar la guàrdia en un lloc “de confiança”, ja estarà bé!
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Video Captures Skier and Dog Caught In Mountain Avalanche - IJR
“Today I triggered an avalanche. I’m sharing the video simply to explain what happened,” she wrote, explaining that the avalanche risk level was marked as low (1–2) and the slope had fresh tracks from earlier in the day. She had skied the same route just days before.
But that illusion of safety — familiarity, routine, low perceived risk — created what experts call a “heuristic trap”: a dangerous mental shortcut that causes people to underestimate real danger in well-known terrain.
“It’s not that the conditions were safe — it’s that they seemed safe,” she added. “Risk level 0 simply doesn’t exist.”
The clip has since gone viral among the skiing and outdoor community, serving as a bone-chilling reminder that avalanche danger never takes a day off, even in areas you know well.
Masip’s honest reflection is now being hailed as a life-saving lesson in backcountry humility — and a wake-up call for anyone who ventures into avalanche-prone terrain without taking proper precautions.
Both she and Cim are okay. But next time, they might not be.
Backcountry reminder: Know Before You Go. Take a certified avalanche safety course. Carry a beacon, probe, shovel — and never get complacent. One wrong call can cost everything.
