Just spent quality time watching this 6-part series on YouTube that gives firsthand access to the Chamonix Search & Rescue Team. It seems maybe 7 or 8 years old, but it's well-filmed, has TONS of amazing mountain scenery, and shows lots of examples of how things go wrong for folks in the mountains. You're right there with the search/rescue folks as they pick injured climbers off the mountains and rescue them out of crevasses. Some of the footage of climbers/hikers in trouble is a bit alarming so be forewarned. Overall I think it's important for every alpine climber to watch stuff like this as a reminder of how things can go wrong so easily and quickly. The Chamonix Search/Rescue folks are absolutely amazing at what they do!
Here's the link to part one and the rest should come up as you watch this one - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMJ6WBm8pXw
Alpine Rescue Series on YouTube
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- esskay1000
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Alpine Rescue Series on YouTube
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- TallGrass
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Re: Alpine Rescue Series on YouTube
"A few hours' mountain climbing make of a rogue and a saint two fairly equal creatures.
Tiredness is the shortest path to equality and fraternity - and sleep finally adds to them liberty."
Tiredness is the shortest path to equality and fraternity - and sleep finally adds to them liberty."
Re: Alpine Rescue Series on YouTube
We watched Chamonix SAR pluck a climber off a rugged ridge a couple years ago - it seemed like the total time from SAR call to retrieval was around half an hr. Everything is in cell range. We were a couole hundred yards away and several hundred feet lower still crossing a glacier. The Cham area has the same range of ill prepared climbers and hikers, albeit with less forgiving terrain. Here, most heli rescues are significantly slower and require relocating the victim if a military bird isn't available.
"The road to alpine climbing is pocked and poorly marked, ending at an unexpectedly closed gate 5 miles from the trailhead." - MP user Beckerich