When that winter sport suddenly turns into a nightmare

In the distance, I see a small, weird cloud of snow. Am I seeing it right? I don’t have my glasses on. The cloud is getting bigger. The cloud is turning into a kind of tidal wave.

I feel a small smile coming up. Disbelief. Ha, it feels like a kind of avalanche, I hear myself think. Suddenly I feel my heartbeat in my throat. This isn't really happening, is it? This isn't happening to us right now? I look at my mother and scream a sentence I never thought I would shout. ‘AVALANCHE, AVALANCHE, WATCH OUT!’

No one seems to see it on our slope anymore. My mother thinks I'm joking. She looks back and screams when she sees what I see. ‘Kiki, ski for your life!!!’ she shouts. I see my mother immediately go off to the right of the slope and land in a thick layer of snow. I ski half with her, but immediately feel that getting stuck in the snow doesn't feel really chill when you want to get away quickly. Behind me, my friend skis in at a murderous pace.

‘KIKI. FOLLOW ME. NOW. AS FAST AS YOU CAN. DON'T FALL NOW.’ Everything goes in a blur. I leave my mother behind in a split second and choose the escape route of Sander, which seems more logical to me at that moment. The saying ‘every man for himself’ applies literally. A kind of primal instinct kicks in. Everyone chooses their own safety and I quickly lose sight of my mother.

I hear screaming around me and see people shooting past me in a blur. The only mantra I play in my head is: don't fall. Whatever you do, don't fall. I think people are falling behind me. While I feel like I'm ‘flying’ down that mountain, where dozens of meters aren't even stored in my memory, I feel that something life-threatening is on our heels.

Thoughts race through my head. This is it. Now we're all going. Now we're going to be caught in an avalanche. This is the moment. I do what my mother told me. I ski for my life, as hard as I can. I feel like I almost fall a few times, but my survival instinct has never been stronger.

We ski further and further and suddenly I no longer hear any screaming behind me.

We are really far away.

We are safe.

I look back and barely realize anything.

I only wonder how I got here. Everything happened in a second. I feel no pain, I am not tired. I feel hyper. It takes a few seconds and then I realize what has happened and start crying like a child. I scream for my mother. I hear my friend say he doesn't know, but he will search. I stand alone on the mountain. I think about what could have happened. I start filming out of despair and talking to my phone while crying, so I am not alone. The minutes in which I don't see my mother feel like hours. I have no idea if she is safe.

I call my sister and can only cry. She tells me that I need to get myself to safety first and asks if I can call her back immediately when we are together again. A little later I get in touch with my mother's friend, Gary. He is with her. They are safe. She has lost a ski under the snow and has pain in her rib. He saw the avalanche coming. He had fallen in the middle of the slope. He had accepted that he wasn't fast enough and would be buried. As if an angel is sitting on his shoulder, the avalanche stops about ten seconds away...

It takes about half an hour before everyone is back together. When I see my mother, I break down. So does she. Everyone hugs each other and the only thing I can think is: what if, what if... We repeat details over and over and once in the valley we all drink beer. Even those who don't like beer. Later we hear on the news that they are still searching for people in the snow. From that point on, I know that this holiday will never be the same.

This second Christmas day in Austria is the day we crawled through the eye of the needle together. Later I hear that a couple of freeriders went off-piste and caused snow to loosen that then started sliding. I feel anger. I feel helplessness. Today is a crazy day. We don't ski. Today is also the day I have Emma from the AD on the phone because she wants to ask me some questions. This doesn't feel like Christmas. And on the other hand, I think: Kiek, least of your concerns, we are intensely happy that we are all safe. I thank the little angel on our shoulders.

Do you know what to do if you find yourself in an emergency situation like an avalanche? I didn't know. Whether you have time to think about all this is questionable, but having read it once can't hurt, it seems to me.

Well, skiing for your life seems to be the first thing to do. But: if you are on a super steep mountain where you barely managed to get down, I wouldn't say: just go straight down, because the chance of falling is much greater and then you end up under that avalanche.
If hell breaks loose and you have no time left? Try to slide to the side. An avalanche is most intense in the middle.
Try to make yourself as light as possible. Dump as much gear as you can.
Grab onto a tree or something else ‘high’ if it's nearby. The longer you stay above the snow, the less deep you will be buried.
Caught by the snow? Try to ‘swim’ upwards on your back. This way you stay above a little longer and are already in the ‘right’ position once buried.
Try to make yourself as big as possible once caught by the snow. Once fully buried, you have a bit more room to move.
Try to keep one hand in front of your mouth and the other raised in the air. This increases the chance that rescuers can find you quickly and that you have space to breathe normally. It gives you some time.
Once under the still snow, you probably won't know what is under or above and which way to dig. Spit or pee to see where up is. Rescue dogs can smell that urine, so just pee your pants.
Focus on that air pocket and hope they find you. Try – no matter how ridiculous – to stay calm and concentrate on a steady breathing.
I know, I know: terrifying tips that you all hope you never need. And yet I wanted to look it up. Additionally, I want to make it very clear to all skiers that you can seriously endanger people by going off-piste. You create tracks with loose snow and exactly that loose snow can become life-threatening. Never. Never go off-piste. This is a second Christmas day I will never forget. It shows that nature can suddenly be in charge. My god, I can't explain how happy I am that my family and I are unharmed.