At the col de Rognon (3500m), finding that his technical skiing level was not up to snuff, the group decided that Fernando should turn around and go back by himself on foot which breaks two golden rules. 1) don't let someone with the least experience go on their own. 2) don't take off your skis. People who go uphill on a snow glacier, should do so with skins, and/or roped up. When the rest of the group arrived in Chamonix (themselves lucky, since they did not know the itinerary either), they discovered that Fernando hadnt come down from the Aiguille. So, at 17:40 the PGHM (high mountain rescue police) were called, but despite a helicopter search and a nighttime descent of the Valley Blanche, Fernando was not to be found. After his rescue Saturday morning Fernando explained, "I fell into a crevasse. I took off my skis and got out on my own. At this moment, it was already dark and I heard the helicopter but it couldnt see me. I dug a trench and I put my skis and my bag on top to protect me. I programmed my alarm to ring every hour so that I would wake and do exercises to keep warm. The sky cleared and I saw the Helbronner and I decided I would go up there the following day." Friday, during one of this season's biggest storms, Fernando, tried to reach the Point Helbronner (the start of the Italian version of the Valley Blanche) - about 400m uphill. Too tired to reach the building, he once again dug a snowhole and exercised to keep warm all night long. Saturday's morning sunshine allowed the PGHM to try and recommence their search. Underneath the cable of the Helbronner, Fernando was able to signal to people in the cable car above him and he was rescued by helicopter 10 min later, alive and well. Unequipped for glacier travel (he had a harness, but no rope, ice screws, ice axes, crampons, headlamp, phone with charged batteries, avalanche transceiver, probe, or shovel) and on his own, this tenacious man owes his survival to luck and a couple hours of nice weather on Saturday.
