Those of us who venture into the backcountry know that we do so with many risks involved. This footage posted earlier this month by freestyle skier Koji Saitoto is a prime example of one of the many dangers, as he films his friend disappearing into a glide crack and then getting completely buried by the sluff that follows.

Koji is an experienced skier and was skiing on a local mountain near Sapporo at only 500m of elevation, a place that he had skied “many times before”.

In this case, Koji managed to save his friend’s life, and all riders made it down to the bottom of the hill without injury.