“I’m very lucky,” says the Spanish rider Núria Castán, who this Tuesday experienced the worst episode of her career. While the Head Snowboards athlete was heading to the starting point of the third final of the FWT Challenger, in Verbier (Switzerland), a 250-meter-long avalanche got in the way of her and another teammate. The snow carried them away, and for ten minutes, until they could be rescued, they both remained buried under the snow. In the case of Castán, without serious physical consequences; in that of the other rider, with more serious consequences.
“It is hard to believe everything that happened and that physically it only resulted in a blow to the elbow, muscle pain and two frozen fingers, because I lost my gloves during what happened. Thanks to the security team and, above all, to the riders who were around who acted quickly and very effectively, they were able to rescue me in time. This unpleasant experience has always been one of my biggest fears and it has finally come true. I don’t wish it on anyone and I hope it doesn’t happen again. It’s time to process everything and appreciate this luck of having a second life. To be born again ”, Castán declared after touching the tragedy.
It was not the first time that the Spanish rider was in a situation like this, but it was the most terrifying. “Going well equipped and learning about the weather and snow conditions is crucial, as is knowing how to act in a rescue situation. I believe that the most important thing to practice this sport is to be accompanied by people to whom you can trust your life, that you know they will do everything they can to rescue you, and to become one of those people for your peers yourself,” he says. after their experiences. This season, he will not compete again to fully recover both physically and mentally.