Gurbaz Singh is thankful he鈥檚 alive to tell his story about falling down a mountain.

On Dec. 30, the Surrey teen was scaling Oregon鈥檚 Mount Hood with friends when he .

Surgically repaired the following day, the fractured femur is a reminder of the moment Gurbaz traversed an ice step that suddenly gave way, in an area known as the Pearly Gates.

鈥淚 was scouting it out and as I was going there, it was just so fast 鈥� everything broke and I was falling all of a sudden,鈥� Gurbaz said Saturday during an interview at his family鈥檚 townhouse. 鈥淚 had an axe and was checking it out, and then took a big step and that鈥檚 when I fell.鈥�

鈥� RELATED STORY: .

He tumbled a few times before he instinctively tried to slow his fall, by creating friction with the snow below him.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 remember much, but I remember getting my hands out and managed to slow myself down, and I think that helped because I did end up stopping eventually.

鈥淎ll I was thinking was, 鈥業 have to stop myself, I have to stop myself,鈥� and that鈥檚 what I learned in my training. If I kept going, eventually I would have went over a cliff, but I鈥檓 not certain about that,鈥� he added.

鈥淚 was lucky to have survived. It could have been a lot worse.鈥�

to see rescue video.

UPDATE: Rescuers are making their way down the mountain with the climber now. has a livestream here:

鈥� Clackamas Sheriff (@ClackCoSheriff)

Rescuers transported Gurbaz to a nearby lodge, and from there he was taken to hospital by ambulance.

At age 16, Gurbaz is already an experienced mountaineer who has done close to 100 peaks.

Over the past three years, his parents have done some hikes with him, but Gurbaz has progressed to join other, more experienced climbers on some adventures, including the one on Mount Hood.

鈥淚 used to be really fat and it was a weight-loss thing for me,鈥� Gurbaz said of his hobby, 鈥渁nd slowly I lost the weight and got some endurance and started doing higher peaks and more technical stuff, as I got more experienced.

鈥淚t鈥檚 more mountaineering, I don鈥檛 climb with ropes that much,鈥� he added. 鈥淚 do what鈥檚 called , so I count how many peaks I do.鈥�

On New Year鈥檚 Day, fellow climber Mel Olson created an online fundraiser to help Gurbaz鈥檚 family pay for his hospital bills in Oregon.

鈥淲e hope he can go back to doing what he loves very soon,鈥� , which includes photos of his rescue. 鈥淚鈥檝e created this page to assist him and his family in coping with the aftermath of this tragic accident and to get him back up on his feet as soon as possible.鈥�

As of Monday, close to $9,000 has been raised on behalf of Rishamdeep Singh, Gurbaz鈥檚 father.

鈥淚t was a last-minute decision to go (to Mount Hood), so we tried to get insurance but couldn鈥檛,鈥� Gurbaz explained.

Rishamdeep said he has always encouraged his children to explore their passions and be independent.

鈥淚 know my son loves to climb and be on the mountains, so that鈥檚 what he will do,鈥� Rishamdeep said. 鈥淲e鈥檒l take it slowly from here. This is his hobby, mountaineering and hiking, and apart from that he is also an honour-roll student in math and science. I鈥檓 very proud of him.鈥�

A Grade 11 student at Tamanawis Secondary, Gurbaz is a member of the school kabaddi team, and was a competitive chess player as a preteen, before he got into mountaineering.

Now he鈥檚 learned to adjust to life with crutches, for the time being.

鈥淚鈥檓 able to walk around a bit without crutches, and the pain鈥檚 gone down quite a bit, although it does hurt at night sometimes,鈥� Gurbaz reported. 鈥淭hey say I might be running by spring break, so we鈥檒l see 鈥� maybe April.鈥�

鈥淚 might slowly ease back into it (climbing). It was a scary experience,鈥� he continued. 鈥淔rom my experience I know this is an accident that could have happened to anyone,鈥� he continued. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I made any mistakes, I was just scouting it out and taking it slow, and it was an accident. You can be driving in your car and get into an accident, right?鈥�

tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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