Reader\'s Digest Australia - 08.2019

between two cliffs – the type that
would nicely lend itself to filming.
Fitzpatrick reckoned they could access
it if they ventured 50 metres across the
mountaintop. Campos agreed and
reminded both of them to look out
for cornices – overhanging masses of
snow that clung to the ridgeline, look-
ing deceptively firm from above but
prone to break off at any moment.
Campos watched as Fitzpatrick and
Crouch disappeared behind the jag-
ged rocks and boulders that made up
the ridge. He could no longer see the
men but could still hear them check-
ing in periodically with the team on
their radios.
Fitzpatrick led the way, conscious
of not veering from the zone they’d
established as safe. It took a while for
him to realise that they’d gone too far,
and even longer to notice that Crouch
was standing right on a massive cor-
nice that had been heating up in the
afternoon sun.
Fear crashed over Fitzpatrick. He
couldn’t rush to grab Crouch, as his
own body weight might aggravate the
situation. It was best for them both to
remain calm, but he needed to shout
out a warning. “Be careful!” he yelled.
“This is a hanging cornice!” It was too
late. The snow and ice had already be-
gun to give way.
In a split second, everything be-
neath Crouch’s feet disappeared with
the loudest crack Fitzpatrick had
ever heard, followed by a vacuumous
“WOMPF!” Fitzpatrick looked on in

horror as Crouch, too, disappeared.

For a time, he could hear his colleague

screaming as he plummeted along

with 140 square metres of snow that

had broken off from the ridge. Then

he heard the sound of Crouch’s body

scraping against the rocks below. After

that, nothing.

From his perch on a neighbour-

ing peak, helicopter pilot Josh Poole

could see a cloud of snow rising up

near where he’d dropped off the

two snowboarders. The 40 year old

had just landed his chopper, cut the

engine and was sitting out in the sun.

He knew what had happened even

before he heard Fitzpatrick scream-

ing “Avalanche! Avalanche!” into the

radio. He bolted back into the cockpit

and started the blades.

Lifting into the air, Poole pushed the

chopper’s nose down and began slic-

ing through the kilometre and a half

of clear blue sky that lay between him

and the cloud of snow dissipating in

the distance. Meanwhile, Campos and

two other boarders, Mark Tremblay

and John Jackson, both also featured

in the film, made their way as fast as

they could towards Fitzpatrick, who

IN A SPLIT SECOND,

EVERYTHING

BENEATH CROUCH’S

FEET DISAPPEARED

WITH A LOUD CRACK

56 Augus t 2019

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