An Australian climber who came face to face with a “massive avalanche” on Mount Everest is speaking out about the harrowing incident.
“I just saw this monster avalanche,” Oliver Foran told ABC News, recounting the experience. “We’d been hearing these avalanches all night, and normally, they’ll go on for a second and then disappear. But this one didn’t. This one just got louder and louder.”
“It was about two apartment blocks high of just snow coming towards you off a mountain,” he added. “We got away really lucky.”
Foran later posted a video he captured of the avalanche on social media, which shows plumes of snow billowing down the Lho La col near Mount Everest before Foran quickly ducks back into his tent and zips it up. The video then shows then tent shaking as the snow engulfs Foran and his climbing partner.
“We were lucky that we didn’t get hurt and I believe no one else did,” he wrote in part.
He added, “Mother Nature reminding us who’s boss.”
Foran recounted the aftermath of the avalanche, saying he and his climbing partner ended up “probably half covered in snow, so we just upsided to the top [of the tent] and squeezed out at the top there and walked around and made sure everyone was OK.”
Foran said he and the group were able to continue their climb following the incident, with hopes of setting a new world record for the fastest journey from sea level to the summit of Everest.
“Now, to be in a position to actually have the opportunity to climb this beautiful mountain, I just feel so happy and in disbelief to actually be here,” he said.