If you’ve ever hiked Highland Bowl in Aspen for pow shots, the view of the Maroon Bells out the back is next level. And the mind-riding is out of this world. You can clearly see routes down the massive Colorado peaks. Now, actually climbing and riding them is a whole different story. Right about now is when ski and snowboard mountaineers start making the trek up the giant peaks to take advantage of more stable snow conditions. This week, one skier released terrifying footage of a massive fall down South Maroon Bell.
Matt Randall shared the scary footage with the Sharp End Podcast, a show started by Ashley Saupe which examines accidents in the mountains, from skiing and riding, to climbing and mountaineering (it’s a worthy listen). Randall’s footage was POV and it pretty much shows everything. As you can see, he catches the tip of his ski on an exposed rock as he’s carefully making his way down the line. All hell breaks loose after.
“Last spring in May of 2022, Matt Randall took a 1,000 foot fall from the top of South Maroon Bell, one that he undoubtedly shouldn’t have survived,” reads the description on Saupe’s YouTube page. “He was solo ski mountaineering just outside of Aspen, Colorado and Matt somehow got lucky and walked away with zero injuries and one broken ski. He wants to share his experience because he believes it would be beneficial for others to hear since he’s convinced there are lots of other people out there with similar human traits.”
Randall talks with Saupe about things he would have done differently in episode 88. One of the most obvious, he says, was going out solo, which he loves, but doesn’t “leave a lot of room for error.” Listen to more of his insights, here.
