Breaking (Updated): Search Called Off For 10 Missing In Mont Blanc Avalanche
Posted by Jason A. Hendricks on August 24, 2008 |
10 people are missing and 8 others are hospitalized after an early morning avalanche on Mont Blanc du Tacal, one of the routes climbers use to get to the top of the famed Mont Blanc peak.
From CNN:
The missing include five Austrians and three Swiss, and the nationalities of the other two were not immediately known, said the Haute-Savoie regional government office in a statement.
The avalanche was set off around 3 a.m. (0100 GMT) by the fall of a massive block of ice on the Mont Blanc du Tacul, one of the peaks in the Mont Blanc range, at an altitude of some 3,600 meters (11,800 feet), it said.
Authorities deployed a vast search mission, involving three helicopters, dozens of rescue workers, doctors, Alpine guides and sniffer dogs, said the statement. Local officials reached by phone declined to comment further.
French Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie hurried to the area to meet with rescuers and some of the eight people injured and taken to a regional hospital, her office said.
Much like the recent tragedy on K2, a massive block of ice set off the avalanche at 11,800 Ft.
Let’s keep everyone in our thoughts and prayers as rescue workers continue to try to reach the victims. I will update more once I receive more information. Subscribe below to catch the latest updates.
Update: What?? Search Called Off For Missing Climbers On Mont Blanc!
After viewing the area by helicopter, French Interior Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie said there was “no chance of finding anyone alive”
This seems a bit premature…
I think it’s extremely premature. Granted if there is a threat of other avalanches then they need to re-group but to say categorically that there’s no chance they are alive after such a short time is just heart breaking for anyone who has a link to any of these climbers.
August 24th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
2 Italians rported themselves so there’s only question for 8 others, 6 Austrians and 2 Swiss people.
The Austrians are/were wearing ARVA beacons…
August 24th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
I hope the rescuers don’t give up. With those ARVA beacons surely they can find them?
August 24th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
sorry, 5 Austrians and 3 Swiss people.
The search has been suspended due to avalanche danger…
There were 8 survivers with only minor injuries and at the moment there were 47 climbers near the avalanche.
You can see pictures of the avalanche at http://www.bergredding.nl/?p=289 (a dutch site by Menno Boermans and others about rescues and fatalities in the mountains).
August 24th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
I’m desperately trying to contact a mate of mine who is climbing in the Alps but I don’t know if he had Mt Blanc on his plans for this weekend. He’s probably no where near it but I wish the mobile reception was working.
August 24th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
The mountain rescuers of the PGHM know where the missing people are. The location is not directly on the accident scene but much lower on the glacier. That is a very dangerous spot, not at least because of the danger for next avalanches. Going there is too dangerous for the rescuers at his moment.
August 25th, 2008 at 2:58 am
Thanks Menno - is there any chance they would be able to get to them today if the overall conditions had improved?
August 25th, 2008 at 3:13 am
I am a bit amazed that I am not seeing more about this in the press. With the recent K2 tragedy just a few weeks back, you would think that there would be more press. I am finding it hard to get updates.
August 25th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Same here Jason. All I keep reading is the same news re-hashed.
The latest I’ve seen is that the search won’t go ahead while there’s any danger of further avalanches - and we knew that last night.
I think they gave up on Sunday believing the 8 were already gone given the size of the serac.
There’s very little on the Swiss media, which is surprising given 3 of the missing are their nationals.
I keep hoping somewhere out there they are digging their way out.
August 25th, 2008 at 11:22 am
All the major climbing newswires are carrying the same article. I don’t think I have ever heard of a big search and rescue ending so quick and abruptly. I find it quite absurd, odd, and heartbreaking for their families–
I can understand the fear of avalanches–but even with that fear, (the same was found on K2) rescuers continued to work to find the individuals. We all know that climbing accidents come in all types and that people do have an amazing way of surviving.
I have also read that this is one of the worst accidents in decades, in the Alps. What was the last big one, of comparable stature? Do you know?
It sounds like the snow and ice on peaks around the world are quite unstable right now. Is that due to the lateness of the season, or are we seeing temperatures in these regions rising do to other factors? I don’t remember a year where there have been so many accidents this late in the year.
August 25th, 2008 at 11:44 am
The peaks do seem to be unstable all around the world at the moment given the such changebale wetaher we’ve been having. The snow has never really cleared from the Eiger this year after the heavy snowfalls in March and less than warm summer.
Even so I don’t think anyone could have predicted either K2 or Mont Blanc. I know it’s ‘just one of those things’ in climbing but I can’t believe they have given up so quickly, danger or not.
I just hope those guides who are involved in the search take it upon themselves not to give up.
Seven skiers were killed in an avalanche back in January 2006 - blame was laid on them for skiing off piste. But at the same time the weather and conditions were as unstable as they are this year.
Sunday’s accident is the worst in a decade in Europe since 7 people died in the Italian Alps on Aug 5 1997.
August 25th, 2008 at 11:55 am
It has been an awful year for the Alps.
August 16th 2008: Briton Reg Clarke (70) from West Sussex in the Uk and Dutchman Johannes Ruiter (47) were found frozen to death minutes from their refuge after being caught in a storm near Naso del Lyskamm peak in the Italian Alps.
Reg was a very experienced climber as was Ruiter.
August 14th: Six people die in four separate accidents. Two Frenchmen fell to their deaths from the Bosses ridge and later two mountaineers, aged 21 and 22, died while descending the Col des Courtes. A 54-year-old hiker fell coming down the Dent d’Oche and a 65-year-old local trekker was killed after falling on rocks.
August 8th: Ian Jackson (18) from Middlesbrough, fell 50m (164ft) to his death while abseiling after a climb in Chamonix. This was attributed to an error he may have made with his ropes.
July 25th: Jane Jerram, from New Zealand, her British boyfriend and two women from France and Chile froze to death after being caught by a storm on the Bionnassay crest, on the French side of Mont Blanc. They were said not to have had adequate clothing or equipment.
July 24th A Dutch father (56) and his children, aged 17, 20 and 23, fell 500m down a slope in Mont Dolent, part of Mont Blanc. They had been roped together.
April 30th: Five French ski-mountaineers swept away by an avalanche in Gran Paradiso national park in Italy’s Alps.
August 25th, 2008 at 11:58 am
Off course the rescuers do what they can (the PGHM is one of the most busy and professional rescue services in Europe) but sometimes it is quite clear that there are no survivers.
When you have seen the amount of snow which is on top of some of the bodies you are sure they aren’t alive. Others are located far lower on the glacier. Absolutely no change to survive a 1000 meter fall…
August 25th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
A slight change in the news coming (slowly) out of France with Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal, spokesman for the Austrian foreign ministry, saying the missing are 4 Germans, 1 Austrian (a guide) and 3 Swiss.
Menno - You’re right, of course no one expects any of the rescuers to place themselves in danger looking for the climbers, it’s just so important for the families and friends to bring them home.
August 25th, 2008 at 1:21 pm