Experienced climber and guide John Freeman walked away from a life-threatening accident while climbing an ice pillar at Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada.

Some 50 feet off the ground, Freeman estimates, he swung his ice ax into the free hanging pillar and it collapsed, sending him hurtling to the ground. Somehow, falling along with actual tons of ice, Freeman was unharmed, and was able to ski away from the site of the accident. He went climbing the next day.