
When Francis Zuber left his house in Bellingham, Wash., March 3 to ski his local mountain, Mt. Baker, it started out like any normal day trip. It was an easy hour and change drive, and he rolled out of the car into some easy warmup laps. But as the day progressed, it became increasingly clear that luck was on his side.
To start, he intended to meet up with a friend, but only made loose plans beyond knowing they were both riding that day. Against all mountain odds, his friend spotted him on his first lap (let's be real, that never happens on a crowded Friday).
As the day progressed, the duo worked their way over to an out-of-bounds territory off Chair 8. Being experienced skiers and avy certified, they were comfortable in the terrain and had the proper safety gear, Francis let his buddy go first and chose to follow his line.
About a minute in-which Francis said was well before the exciting part of the line even-something caught his eye.
I picked a line and I'd only been there a couple of other times, so I was going a little quicker than I would have liked through those tight trees, he recalls. I did a jump and had to sort of bail and reset myself. It's a miracle that I did, because if I had come flying out of those trees, theres no chance that I would have seen a snowboard.
The snowboard happened to be another well-versed Mt. Baker local, Ian Steger, who was the last of his group to ride the sidecountry section. Ian either got clipped by a branch or snagged something, which led to him falling upside-down in a tree well.
I can still see in my minds eye what I saw in that moment, Francis explains. It was just like this very abstract red flash. I thought it could be a couple of things in that split second-one of those lollipops ski patrol puts out or actually somebody standing up next to the tree. I thought, that was weird, so I had to take another look because it was so out of place for being out of bounds.
That's when Francis saw Ian's brightly colored board wiggling a few side steps up from him, and he took action.
It was extremely shocking, going from this moment of euphoria, of skiing deep snow, he remembers. Going from having the time of your life. To all of a sudden, its like, Oh, my God, I have to save this persons life right now. Theres no one else coming that can help. I have to do this now.'
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Francis Zuber (@franciszuber)
--
From their calculations, Ian had been there 5 to 7 minutes. He had started off with an air pocket that slowly collapsed, and he could hear his riding buddies radioing for him but couldn't reach his walkie talkie, and even if he could, Francis said they were a challenging distance away to trek back up, through deep powder, and help. All safe to say, Francis came along at the perfect moment.
Ian's group was probably the first group of the day to make the traverse around a gully and through some trees to ride that specific area, and as the rescue played out, Francis said no one else came by. So yes, Francis had luck on his side but, even more importantly, he and Ian both agreed that they had proper mountain safety training on their side, too (as well as the proper backcountry beacon, shovel and probe kits).
This stuff happens so frequently, and it can be a little hush hush. I think people should be talking more openly about the danger of the sport, Francis says. Everybody should get training if they plan to go in the back country.
Francis said he ultimately decided to post the clip to his Instagram and YouTube to help raise awareness about the importance of proper mountain safety and riding with buddies, especially in tree sections and any out-of-bounds territory.
The intention [was to post the video] to raise awareness around the of danger of tree wells and deep snow and how to stay safe. With the hopes that people see it and sort of reevaluate the protocols. Maybe stop skiing solo in the trees or get some avy training, whatever the case may be.
Luckily Francis had his GoPro (a recent Christmas present from his wife!) recording almost the whole event, so he was able to share the story and raise awareness. But he did joke that as soon as he realized his camera was still rolling, his first instinct was to cut the recording. So he didn't capture the moment Ian reconnected safely with his crew nor the inevitable connection the pair formed after a near-death experience. But that's OK, because theres a happy ending to the story that Ian is okay. He was uninjured and were buddies now.
While Francis appreciates the praise he's received for his heroic actions, he also was quick to point out that there are professional doing this every day-we just don't always have GoPro recordings to share.
I want to shout out the ski patrol and search and rescue crews because they are doing this stuff all the time and certainly not getting nearly enough recognition for it.
We're proud to be in touch with Francis and able to grant a GoPro Award for his Be a HERO mentality. You are a legend, Francis!
Most recent headlines
20/12/2025
Atomos announced the immediate availability of a new firmware update for its Ninja TX GO and Ninja TX monitor-recorders, unlocking ProRes RAW recording from the...
20/12/2025
CJP Broadcast has completed the digitisation of the European Gymnastics tape archive, converting 328 tapes containing more than forty years of recorded material...
20/12/2025
Bitmovin, the leading provider of video streaming solutions, today announced the launch of the Stream Lab MCP Server, to give AI agents and large language model...
20/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/12/2025
Barack Obama Includes Laufey on His 2025 Favorite Music List The former presidents roundup of books, music, and movies includes a song from the Berklee alums ...
20/12/2025
Study reveals a key hormonal circuit in the kidneys Scripps Research scientists identify the protein that helps kidney cells regulate renin, providing foundatio...
19/12/2025
With Playout Release 2025.4, ToolsOnAir continues to push professional playout w...
19/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Diversified's Jared Timmins on AI for Broadcast Sports and Cre...
19/12/2025
2025 SVG Summit Audio Recap: Say What?The Audio Production and Distribution Workshop at the SVG Summit 20 took on issues including speech intelligibility, Next-...
19/12/2025
Gamified fun: Channel 5 on its NFL Big Game Night ambitions with Hungry Bear Med...
19/12/2025
College Football Playoff Preview: For ESPN, Round 1 is a Fantastic Yet Familia...
19/12/2025
AWS's Jason Dvorkin on Developing Partnerships With the NBA and PGA Tour, Em...
19/12/2025
Netflix Kicks Off Packed Sports Week with Paul-Joshua Fight Before Shifting to N...
19/12/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Presidio's Nareev Shah on the Role of Its Captiva...
19/12/2025
Mounted to the pylon of an AH-1Z Viper helicopter, a Red Wolf vehicle successful...
19/12/2025
L3Harris technology for the SDA Tranche 3 Tracking Layer program will provide in...
19/12/2025
Partnership brings Nielsen ONE measurement activation directly into XR's adv...
19/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
19/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
19/12/2025
Berklee Announces Spring 2026 Signature Series This season's highlights include the Gospel Extravaganza, the 40th International Folk Festival, special gue...
19/12/2025
Performing arts centres across the globe have doubled down on live production infrastructure in recent years. For venues like the Queensland Performing Arts Cen...
19/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
19/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
19/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
19/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
19/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
19/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
19/12/2025
Ricardo Coke-Thomas Named Chair of Theater for Boston Conservatory at Berklee The distinguished theater educator, director, and performer will join the Conser...
19/12/2025
Back to All News
Salvador Arrives to Netflix on February 6
Entertainment
19 December 2025
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
WHEN THERE IS NOTHING LEFT ...
19/12/2025
As the year comes to a close, it's the perfect time to give your WO Automation for Radio system a quick tune up. At the top of your year end checklist is on...
19/12/2025
19 Dec 2025
VEON's Mobilink Microfinance Bank Launches Islamic Banking Oper...
19/12/2025
Wrapping up a year of connection and clarity!
19 Dec Written By Suzanne Costello
As 2025 comes to a close, we want to take a moment to thank our incredib...
19/12/2025
The six-part drama, set in a close-knit Welsh town fractured by an unspeakable c...
19/12/2025
Rohde & Schwarz drives the future of mobility at CES 2026 At the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Rohde & Schwarz will present a powerful lineup o...
19/12/2025
Back to All News
Salvador arrives to Netflix on February 6
Entertainment
19 December 2025
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
WHEN THERE IS NOTHING LEFT ...
19/12/2025
Back to All News
Last Samurai Standing' Renewed for Season 2 - A Global Se...
19/12/2025
RT is proud to return to the RDS to support the 2026 Stripe Young Scientist & T...
19/12/2025
Nanoparticle vaccine strategy could protect against Ebola and other deadly filoviruses Scripps Research scientists turn nanoparticles into virus showcases to ...
18/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Kurt Sutton, Director of Broadcast Operations, Clemson ...
18/12/2025
Follow the Money Episode 2: Inside the Sports Media Biz with Sam McCleery and St...
18/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Google Cloud's Anshul Kapoor on the Future of Generative Prod...
18/12/2025
The 2025 SVG Summit Draws Record Crowd for 20th-Annual Sports-Production Industr...
18/12/2025
SBS's sports schedule sizzles in January with Dakar Rally, Kooyong Classic a...
18/12/2025
Canada's largest indoor arena has transformed its live production capabilities with a full ST 2110 infrastructure and Calrec's compact Argo S console. S...
18/12/2025
During November, streaming's share of TV viewing in Mexico settled at 24.2%, an increase of 0.5 share points from the previous month.
Disclaimer: YUMI TV,...