Mountain rescue workers in Romania have released dramatic footage of a skier being engulfed by an avalanche after he used a closed run near the town of Sinaia in the Bucegi Mountains.
The video, filmed by members of the Salvamont rescue team from a gondola, shows the skier slaloming down the slope at speed in an attempt to escape the tide of snow he inadvertently triggered. He is eventually hit and sent flying as the avalanche overtakes him.
A rescuer in the cable car can be heard exclaiming as the snow mass continues down the mountain, with the skier momentarily out of sight. According to local media, the route was closed at the time, but the man decided to use it anyway.
Rescuers later found the skier alive and dazed but grateful for his lucky escape. Sinaia ski resort spokeswoman Maria Floricica commented: 'He was very fortunate, he escaped, and in the end only lost the skis!'
