Winter hiking definitely comes with its own set of dangers. Particularly, the fact that you could slide endlessly down a slick icy slope if you were to fall. That’s why self-arresting, or the act of stopping yourself from sliding, is an essential skill to learn for any winter hiker venturing into the backcountry.

The video below shows a hiker stopping himself from being seriously injured on South Suicide Peak in the Chugach Range of Alaska. He slips, but is able to stop himself eventually by digging his ice axe into the snow.

PeakbaggerBryan:“While descending from South Suicide Peak my partner Kaleb slipped and fell. He quickly had his ice axe handy and got into self arrest position. His self arrest skills may have saved his life as there was no safe runout for at least 1,000′ below. Please learn safe winter mountain travel skills, they may one day save your life.”

It seems like he slides really far, but he’s ultimately extremely lucky that this didn’t end up worse for him. The video’s description says there wasn’t a safe runout for another 1,000′ below.

Be safe out there, friends!

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