Fred Syrerson News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Camera." on a mountain peak in the french alps, a wrong turn launches a skier over a 250-foot cliff. march 18th, 2008, france. norwegian fred syrerson is one of the world's top freestyle skiers. at 42 he's also one of the oldest still active. he tests his skills on steep and untraveled terrain like this remote peak in the alps. >> so you want to push your limits a little bit because there is always a better chance when you're up there to try things that you normally can't do every day. >> on this day, he and two other skiers are being filmed for a movie about extreme skiing. fred and the fil...

Dunard, have worked out a route down the mountain using landmarks like rock outcrops. they decide on a trial run. the plan is for fred to lead the other skiers. but the filmmaker suddenly changes the plan, worried about fred's habit of taking big chances which could lead them all into disaster. >> i said to my team, okay, sorry, guys, we go up one by one. i have a sixth sense, like an alarm. i know fred for a long time. i know he's a charger. he's always want to push. >> a helicopter drops fred off on the peak. he will begin alone. >> i'm kind of focused on getting my gear ready and getting bu...

I was fighting that the whole way down until the very last meters. and then let the wind flip me over on my back so i could land like horizontally because i knew that this kind of heights, if you land on your feet, on your head, you're done. >> fred slams into the snow. >> the impact is so strong that it's like an explosion. and then the sudden silence -- nothing. just silence. and everything white. >> in the helicopter, terry dunard, the filmmaker, spots where fred disappears into the snow. while the pilot hovers nearby, dunard and an assistant jump to try to rescue him. but fred is buried. >...

Go. then you're just like, you blank out because then you're only concentrating on the line you're going to ski. so you're kind of very into what you're going to do and focusing on the right way to go down. >> fred pushes off. >> i felt like this is going to be like a cruising and really good warmup run to get the feel of the snow because it was the first run of the day. >> unintentionally, fred turns far off course. >> i thought i was at the right landmark. >> the filmmakers, all on headsets, try to warn him. but fred doesn't hear them. >> when i come out of that turn, i can see that there ar...

>> you hear the wind, and it picks up like more and more and more. so that's -- that was the force i was fighting. i was fighting that the whole way down until the very last meters. and then let the wind flip me over on my back so i could land like horizontally because i knew that this kind of heights, if you land on your feet, on your head, you're done. >> fred slams into the snow. >> the impact is so strong that it's like an explosion. and then the sudden silence -- nothing. just silence. and everything white. >> in the helicopter, terry dunard, the filmmaker, spots where fred disappears int...