Alpinists still trapped after 6 nights on the Mont Blanc massif
Weather forces mountain guide and client to spend almost a week on the Grandes Jorasses
French mountain guide Olivier Sourzac and experienced climber Charlotte Demetz set out on Wednesday with the intention of climbing the Linceuil route on the north face of the Grandes Jorasses in the Mont Blanc mountain range.
They successfully climbed the route (also known as The Shroud) and camped overnight at Point Walker at an altitude of 4208m. Their plan for Thursday was to descend via the south face of the Grandes Jorasses but they became trapped when bad weather set in.
Sourzac dug a hole and called for rescue; a search party set out but was held back by heavy snow storms and strong winds. The brother of Souzac, also a mountain guide, set out on foot from the Boccalatte hut on the Italian side of the mountain but was unable to reach the couple. Further search parties struggled against continued bad weather, which has also made helicopter searches impossible until today.
A helicopter was finally able to take off this afternoon and scour the Roches Whymper area on the south face where they are thought to be but no sightings of them have been confirmed so far. It is understood that the last telephone call from Souzac was on Friday, when he warned that his phone battery was about to run out. Searches continue on foot and by air.
Source: Le Dauphiné Libéré
