Few experience an avalanche firsthand and survive to talk about it -- let alone have someone nearby capture the moment on camera.

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The climb, known as the “hard ice on the rock,” placed Jeff Mercier on a cliff in the Italian Alps, about 6,000 feet in the air.

His buddy, photographer Jonathan Griffith, used a remote control camera to snap these amazing shots of Jeff hanging on the cliff once the avalanche struck.

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Surprisingly, the climbers knew there was the possibility of an avalanche that day, but made the decision to go ahead with the climb anyway.

Jonathan took the experience in stride, and was quoted in the Daily Mail saying, “It was more like getting a very cold spray of ice and wind rather than anything life threatening.”

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