Tales of survival are often embellished to a degree that is embarrassing. Such is the case with one British skier, who is going so far as to compare his own tale of ski survival to that of Hugh Glass, the protagonist played by Leonardo DiCaprio in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant.
As the story goes, American pioneer Hugh Glass survived a bear attack only to be left for dead by his companions with a broken leg and large lacerations on his back and abdominal regions. However, with his ribs showing, Glass eventually regained consciousness, reset his broken leg, and proceeded to travel nearly 200 miles to safety– all the while avoiding hostile Native American tribes, more bears, and the deadliest thing of all– infection.
Gross Fact: Hugh Glass actually laid on a maggot infested log so that the parasites could clean the wound on his back!
However, something within that story struck a chord with 30 year-old British skier, Janveer Sandhu reports the Daily Mail.
Sandhu was skiing at the Bulgarian resort of Bankso in the late afternoon hours of an early February day when things got all “Revenant.” According to Sandhu, he was skiing alone when he got confused. Eventually, he headed into an off-piste area where he smashed into a tree. The Essex man was subsequently left conscious but shocked by the incident. Blood trickled down his face and he was left disoriented.
And that’s where the wolves come in…
After regaining his composure, Sandhu looked up to see wolves headed in his direction. In order to escape the wild canines, he ditched his ski boots and proceeded to hike up the slope he’d just skied down.
This is where things get sketchy
First off, ditching your ski boots in snow does not make you faster. Actually, taking off your ski boots is a timely process and if wolves were actually approaching, I heavily doubt a skier would take the time to remove his boots (unless you’re rocking Nordica rear entry boots from the 80’s).
However, vacation skiers hate ski boots more than feet themselves and time (and toes) be damned. Leaving his digits freezing, he walked uphill before scaling a tree and hunkering down for the evening. During the night he ate snowmelt to stay hydrated and didn’t leave until the morning, when he reached a ski lift and then saw a road.
He was then picked up by a group of Romanians and taken to a nearby hospital, where his legs were ultimately saved from amputation.
His Toes Might Not Be So Lucky
He has suffered from severe frostbite and will keep his legs. However, The Daily Mail article indicates that Sandhu may very well lose a toe or two as a result of the incident.
Find the entire Daily Mail Article here:Â British skier flees pack of wolves in just his socks before hiding in a tree and eating snow after he crashed when he accidentally went off-piste