A BRITISH skier has been hailed a “miracle survivor” after being swallowed by a 1,300ft avalanche in the French Alps.

Daniel Matthews, 23, was knocked unconscious for five minutes and left for dead under 7ft of snow after an entire mountainside collapsed beneath him in Tignes.

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Daniel Matthews, 23, was buried alive and unconscious for minutes before being rescuedCredit: Instagram/Daniel_matthews12
 

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Terrifying footage shows the skier being thrown around like a rag doll by the snowslideCredit: Instagram/Daniel_matthews12
 

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Matthews was miraculously saved by ski patrollersCredit: Instagram/Daniel_matthews12
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.

In seconds he is flipped, spun and dragged hundreds of metres downhill.

“I 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,” he said.

Buried alive, he lay trapped beneath snow that felt like “concrete”.

“I couldn’t move at all. It felt like someone had poured concrete on top of me.

“I tried not to panic but it was very hard.”

His terrified friends had just minutes to find him before it was too late.

“We can say he’s a miracle survivor,” rescuers from CRS Alpes said after the dramatic rescue.

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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.

They reached him at the eight minute mark and freed his head a minute later.

“If it wasn’t for their collective unbelievable work in finding me and digging me out so quickly I don’t think I would be alive right now,” Matthews wrote on Instagram.

Ski patrollers arrived within minutes and pulled him to safety.

The 23-year-old has admitted the horror was of his own making.

“Friday 13 was an unlucky and incredibly lucky day for me.

“I made a very bad and uneducated decision to ski Skimans Couloir just off the Palafour lift in Tignes.”

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Helmet cam footage shows the moment Matthews was swept awayCredit: Instagram/Daniel_matthews12
 

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He described the feeling of the 30 second drop as ‘like being in a washing machine’Credit: Instagram/Daniel_matthews12
He confessed he “didn’t follow the signs that day that were clearly there” and said: “The only person to blame is myself.”

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’Isere.

Despite a rapid emergency response, both died after being swept away off piste.

Authorities said all victims were carrying avalanche transceivers.

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.

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Footage from a friend shows the moment before Matthews took the leap of faithCredit: Instagram/Daniel_matthews12
Skiers are warned not to go off piste when the danger level rises above three.

Heavy snow has since battered the Alps, with further deadly slides reported in Italy and Switzerland, and roads around Mont Blanc shut amid the chaos.

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.

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He was found after 50 minutes but could not be revived.

He was not carrying an avalanche transceiver and was not with a

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/15981902/brit-skier-swept-horror-avalanche-french-alps-miraculously-saved/