A traveller has recorded the terrifying moment an avalanche surged straight towards him.
Harry Shimmin was on a guided tour in the Tian Shan mountains when he heard a 'deep ice cracking' behind him.
When the traveller pointed his camera upwards, he was met with a gut-wrenching sight.
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Check it out:
Posting the terrifying footage to Instagram, Harry explained he was in a group made up of nine other Brits and one American.
He continued: "We’d just reached the highest point in the trek and I separated from the group to take pictures on top of a hill/cliff edge. While I was taking pictures I heard the sound of deep ice cracking behind me. This is where the video starts.
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"I’d been there for a few minutes already so I knew there was a spot for shelter right next to me. I was on a cliff edge, so I could only run away from the shelter (hence why I don’t move). Yes I left it to the last second to move, and yes I know it would have been safer moving to the shelter straight away.
"I’m very aware that I took a big risk. I felt in control, but regardless, when the snow started coming over and it got dark / harder to breath, I was bricking it and thought I might die."
Harry said being behind the rock when the avalanche hit felt like 'being inside a blizzard'.
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"Once it was over the adrenaline rush hit me hard. I was only covered in a small layer of snow, without a scratch. I felt giddy. I knew the rest of the group was further away from the avalanche so should be okay.
"When I re-joined them I could see they were all safe, although one had cut her knee quite badly (she rode one of the horses to the nearest medical facility). Another had fallen off a horse and sustained some light bruising," he said.
After finding other members of the group again and realising everyone was okay, Harry said everyone 'was laughing and crying' and 'happy to be alive (including the girl who cut her knee)'.
Although, the explorer admitted: "It was only later we realised just how lucky we’d been. If we had walked 5 minutes further on our trek, we would all be dead."
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Going back to the footage he took of the avalanche, Harry noted the path is identifiable as 'the faint grey trail winding through the grass'.
"We traversed it afterwards, walking among massive ice boulders and rocks that had been thrown much further than we could have run, even if we acted immediately. To make it worse, the path runs alongside a low ridge, hiding the mountain from view, so we would have only heard the roar before lights out," he added.
Harry's recording has amassed thousands of votes on Reddit, with many users having marvelled at the sheer speed of the avalanche.
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"It's amazing the distance traveled and the amount of force it still had," one user said.
Another joked: "Even if you did think it would reach you, there’s no out-running it. Might as well film."
A third echoed: "If I die I die but at least it'll make awesome found footage lol."
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Topics: Environment, Instagram, Reddit, Viral, Weather
Poppy Bilderbeck