Keen skier Philip Walsh couldn’t wait to celebrate his 30th birthday by going skiing in the Canadian Rockies with some friends.

However ecstasy turned to tragedy as he waited to be picked up by a helicopter in one of the most beautiful places in the world after completing his ski.

His instructor suddenly pointed to an avalanche in the distance after hearing a ‘woof’ sound and within seconds the group was hit by a wall of snow.

“It was like being hit by a wave the size of a Ford Transit doing 70mph,” he recalled. “I was tumbled over and over like a pebble being rolled by a wave against the seashore.”

He was only rescued because his hand was sticking out of the snow but two of the party were trapped under the snow and tragically died.

In ‘The Holiday That Changed My Life’ ...