VALLEE BLANCHE, a skier "sleeps" one night into a crevasse

The High Mountain Rescue (PGHM) of Chamonix were called, around 6 p.m. Friday, by the friends of a skier, anxious of his delay. The man, in his fifties, had taken the Aiguille du Midi cable car around midday to ski the Vallee Blanche. After flying over the zone, the helicopter stopped due to night fall, the PGHM continued their research with head torches, in the company of seven tracker-first-aid workers. All in vain; the skier was not found. It was only yesterday (Saturday) morning that the skier was found safe and healthy, after one night spent in a crevasse, more than 30 meters under ground. It was the fresh tracks of his skis that gave the alert to the rescuers. An enormous amount of luck for this vacationer, whose history could have known a much more dramatic end. Le Dauphiné