Rider buried alive by surprise avalanche

A man riding a snowmobile has been buried by an avalanche that appeared almost from nowhere and trapped him in freezing darkness in Canada.

Curtis Johnson was filming his ride near picturesque Blue Lake in British Columbia with a helmet-mounted camera when the avalanche struck without warning.

His video posted online 10 days ago shows the snow-blanketed ground ahead suddenly move down the mountainside before the white wave knocks him over and buries him in a heartbeat.

The image on the screen turns black and Mr Johnson can be heard breathing heavily as he frantically tries to dig himself out with his hands.

After being trapped for around 40 seconds the voices of Mr Johnson's friends can be heard.

They shovel snow in a frenzy as they desperately race to dig him out.

The snowmobiler's friend Steve Wheeler, who helped dig Mr Johnson out, told CTV that "two minutes must have felt like two hours".

"He is extremely lucky," he said.

"I couldn't imagine what was going through his head when he was buried under there."