A BRITISH skier has been hailed a \u201cmiracle survivor\u201d after being swallowed by a 1,300ft avalanche in the French Alps.<\/p>\n
Daniel Matthews, 23, was knocked unconscious for five minutes and left for dead under 7ft of snow<\/a> after an entire mountainside collapsed beneath him in Tignes.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for The Irish Sun newsletter\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThank you!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Daniel Matthews, 23, was buried alive and unconscious for minutes before being rescuedCredit: Instagram\/Daniel_matthews12<\/p>\n Terrifying footage shows the skier being thrown around like a rag doll by the snowslideCredit: Instagram\/Daniel_matthews12<\/p>\n Matthews was miraculously saved by ski patrollersCredit: Instagram\/Daniel_matthews12<\/p>\n Dramatic helmet cam footage captures the heartstopping moment the Brit drops into Skimans Couloir off the Palafour lift, makes one turn and the slope gives way.<\/p>\n In seconds he is flipped, spun and dragged hundreds of metres downhill.<\/p>\n \u201cI was then quickly thrown into what felt like a washing machine and I just remember falling for about 35 seconds (about 400m) and then coming to a very quick stop,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Buried alive, he lay trapped beneath snow that felt like \u201cconcrete\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI couldn\u2019t move at all. It felt like someone had poured concrete on top of me. <\/p>\n \u201cI tried not to panic but it was very hard.\u201d<\/p>\n His terrified friends had just minutes to find him before it was too late.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can say he\u2019s a miracle survivor,\u201d rescuers from CRS Alpes said after the dramatic rescue.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMost read in The Irish Sun\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Racing against time, his friends used avalanche transceivers to pinpoint him in six minutes, then clawed through nearly 7ft of snow in just two and a half minutes. <\/p>\n They reached him at the eight minute mark and freed his head a minute later.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for their collective unbelievable work in finding me and digging me out so quickly I don\u2019t think I would be alive right now,\u201d Matthews wrote on Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ski patrollers arrived within minutes and pulled him to safety.<\/p>\n The 23-year-old has admitted the horror was of his own making.<\/p>\n \u201cFriday 13 was an unlucky and incredibly lucky day for me.<\/p>\n \u201cI made a very bad and uneducated decision to ski Skimans Couloir just off the Palafour lift in Tignes.\u201d<\/p>\n Helmet cam footage shows the moment Matthews was swept awayCredit: Instagram\/Daniel_matthews12<\/p>\n He described the feeling of the 30 second drop as \u2018like being in a washing machine\u2019Credit: Instagram\/Daniel_matthews12<\/p>\n He confessed he \u201cdidn\u2019t follow the signs that day that were clearly there\u201d and said: \u201cThe only person to blame is myself.\u201d<\/p>\n The near-death drama unfolded on the same day two other Britons were killed in a separate avalanche in the nearby resort of Val d\u2019Isere.<\/p>\n Despite a rapid emergency response, both died after being swept away off piste. <\/p>\n Authorities said all victims were carrying avalanche transceivers.<\/p>\n The fatalities came after a rare red alert across the Savoie region, with the avalanche risk hitting five out of five for the first time in 17 years. <\/p>\n Footage from a friend shows the moment before Matthews took the leap of faithCredit: Instagram\/Daniel_matthews12<\/p>\n Skiers are warned not to go off piste when the danger level rises above three.<\/p>\n Heavy snow has since battered the Alps, with further deadly slides reported in Italy<\/a> and Switzerland<\/a>, and roads around Mont Blanc shut amid the chaos.<\/p>\n Last month another British skier, believed to be in his 50s, died after being buried under eight feet of snow at the La Plagne resort.<\/p>\n He was found after 50 minutes but could not be revived.<\/p>\n He was not carrying an avalanche transceiver and was not with a <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t