Skiing is filled with risks – speed, steep mountains, potentially hard snowpack, the list goes on. Backcountry skiing ups that risk factor by layering in avalanche danger and a lack of nearby aid should something go wrong. Now take ski mountaineering, where a simple tumble could send you over a cliff hundreds of feet tall, and the risk factor goes up another notch, or five.
Norwegian skier and filmmaker Nikolai Schirmer has years of experience in the mountains, and especially in the type of terrain his team is exploring in the video above. However, when you’re sitting above the line and your friend takes a tumble in the no-fall zone, there’s not a lot you can do but hope for the best.