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THIS is the terrifying moment a group of British and American tourists were pummelled by an apocalyptic avalanche while on a hiking tour in Kyrgyzstan.
Harry Shimmin, who filmed the extraordinary footage, was on a 10-day guided tour in the Tian Shan mountains when a glacier suddenly crashed down the side of a cliff.
The 27-year-old said he heard the sound of ice cracking behind him before a mass of snow and rocks started hurtling down a mountain in the distance.
The incredible video shows huge chunks of ice racing straight towards Harry before he’s engulfed by the avalanche as he shelters behind a rock.
He said: “We’d just reached the highest point in the trek and I separated from the group to take pictures on top of a hill/cliff edge.
“While I was taking pictures I heard the sound of deep ice cracking behind me.”
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Harry admitted it would have been sensible to scramble for shelter straight away – but he said he initially felt “in control”.
Yet as the avalanche grew closer he said it became harder to breathe.
“When the snow started coming over and it got dark and harder to breath, I was bricking it and thought I might die,” he said.
“Behind the rock it was like being inside a blizzard. Once it was over the adrenaline rush hit me hard.”
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The group of hikers miraculously escaped the horror with just cuts and bruises.
“I was only covered in a small layer of snow, without a scratch,” Harry said.
“I knew the rest of the group was further away from the avalanche so should be okay.
“When I re-joined them I could see they were all safe, although one had cut her knee quite badly.
“Another had fallen off a horse and sustained some light bruising.
“The whole group was laughing and crying, happy to be alive. It was only later we realised just how lucky we’d been.
“If we had walked five minutes further on our trek, we would all be dead.”
The Tian Shan mountains straddle south-eastern Kyrgyzstan and its north east border with China.
Harry, who holds the Guinness World Record for the most backflips in a sky dive, told news.com.au: “When it was coming towards me, I was thinking about a few things.
“Initially, I was focusing on trying to get a good video.
“I wasn’t really expecting it to get as close as it did, but when it came over the first hill I knew that there was nowhere to run because I was on the edge of a cliff, and that moving from where I was would be more dangerous.
“When it came over the second hill was when I knew I’d need to use the cover right next to me.
“Embarrassingly one of the main thoughts in my head was something like, ‘I hate when people can’t film avalanches properly, I’m going to show them how it’s done,’ which is when I decided to take the big risk of moving so late.”
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The young adventurer said the guides had never seen an avalanche like it.
It comes after at least six people were killed after an avalanche struck the Italian Alps.
