 The facilities at the ski resort had to be closed due to bad weather |
A businessman from Cardiff has survived an avalanche in Turkey in which his friend died. Alun Davies - who is a former equerry to Prince Charles - was taking part in an expedition in Erzururm when the area was hit by its heaviest snowfall for 70 years.
Alisdair Ross, who was originally from Scotland, died from a broken neck after tonnes of snow fell on top of him.
Rescuers managed to save four Canadian and British tourists.
Mr Davies was on holiday with 14 other Britons near the Palandoken mountain ski resort when the incident happened. He was taking part in an expedition to Mount Ararat.
He had gone out with a small group of hikers when they were hit by the avalanche.
Speaking from Turkey he said the snow was incredibly heavy and fell from the sky like "cardboard boxes", completely covering him.
"The weight of it was so huge I was taking small pants and I couldn't open my lungs," he said.
"I couldn't move anything. My sunglasses were jammed between my teeth but I knew my mates would be looking for me.
"I was just trying to hang on but I was expecting to die and kept thinking of my three children."
 |  He was doing a similar expedition last year and was caught in an avalanche so we're kind of hoping this will be the last one  |
He was eventually rescued by fellow expedition members who used tracking equipment and dug him out after 20 minutes.
The BBC's correspondent in Turkey, Jonny Dymond, said that, according to one member of the rescue team which found the group, no one should have been out on the mountains.
All the facilities at the Palandoken ski resort had to be closed as a result of the bad weather.
Mr Davies' daughter Bonnie said he was "battered and bruised" but not seriously hurt.
"He was doing a similar expedition last year and was caught in an avalanche so we're kind of hoping this will be the last one.
"He was quite down and shaken because he was sharing a room with the man that died," she added.
Geoff Collier, spokesman for the British Embassy in Ankara, Turkey said officials have contacted other members of Mr Ross's ski party.
"What happens now is very much up to the family. They will decide how they wish to take things forward," he said.
Mr Davies said his friend would have wanted them to stay in Turkey and continue with the expedition.
"When these things happen we're true brits, we carry on.
"He would have wanted that," he added.
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