London - A skier tumbled 1,000ft (about 300m) down a mountain – yet miraculously survived virtually unscathed.
Angel Collinson was being filmed when she lost control and plummeted down the almost vertical slope in Alaska’s Neacola range.
But amazingly, after falling for almost a whole minute, she was able to sit up and can be heard saying in a quivering voice: “I’m OK, I’m OK.”
The champion freeskier, 25, escaped with just bruises and two strained fingers.
The footage of the spectacular plunge was posted on YouTube by the Teton Gravity Research filming company as part of a safety campaign.
Collinson, an environmental law student in the US, on Wednesday described the moment she realised just how far she had to fall.
“I tried to slow myself down using my arms,” she said. “But then I realised I was going too fast and I was not going to slow down any time soon. I covered my face and my head with my arms and tried to relax the rest of my body.”
As she fell, Collinson came perilously close to several exposed rocky outcrops, which can be seen on video captured by her helmet camera.
“There was not a lot going through my mind except I hope I stop as soon as possible,’ she added. ‘It was almost like time stopped – it was blissful in a weird way ... it was beautiful and also scary at the same time.”
The crew shooting her for a ski and snowboard film ran to her aid within 30 seconds of her coming to a halt.
Collinson, who lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, won the Subaru Freeskiing World Championships in her home state in 2010.
Freeskiing is a relatively new version of the sport and involves tricks, jumps and obstacles.
Daily Mail