Climbing
[Updated, Monday, September 9]
Four hikers have been missing since Saturday, September 7, on Mont Blanc which is located at the French-Italian border. The hikers have been identified as two Italians and two Koreans, traveling in separate groups.
According to the Italian press, the Italian hikers are stuck near the summit at an altitude of over 4,500 meters (14,764 feet), while the location of the Korean hikers is unknown at this stage. Search and rescue efforts were made from both the French and Italian sides but have thus far been unsuccessful. The Peloton de Gendarmerie de Haute Montagne (PGHM) de Chamonix Mont-Blanc, which specializes in high mountain rescue operations, set out on foot from the Aiguille du Midi and managed to reach an altitude of 4,200 meters before being forced to turn around due to inclement weather. The PGHM Chamonix then called for support from their Italian colleagues at the Aosta Valley Mountain Rescue (Soccorso Alpino Valdostano).
The Aosta Valley Mountain Rescue tried to reach the two Italian hikers near the Dome du Goûter area by helicopter but also had to turn around due to the weather conditions. The two Italian hikers are stranded in the Dome du Goûter Area near the summit due to the weather moving in. The Italians were identified as Andrea Galimberti, a 51-year-old man from Lombardi, and Sara Stefanelli, a 41-year-old woman from Liguria. The pair had set out on Friday night, September 6, from the Cosmiques mountain hut to follow one of the standard routes along the French side to the summit. On Saturday, the hikers set off a distress call to search and rescue after they had fallen in a crevice but managed to extract themselves again but realized they were in trouble. According to the Italian Press Association ANSA, they stated, “We don’t see anything. Please, come and get us, we risk freezing to death!” The phones of the two Italian climbers are now turned off, likely due to empty batteries.
The search for the missing hikers continued on Monday, September 9, however, the PGHM Chamonix Mont Blanc confirmed that, due to bad weather, there was no progress in rescue attempts. Their fate hangs by a thread but hope remains. The Korean hikers were part of a group of four hikers of which two were safely recovered from the mountain on Saturday. It appears the group became separated and the exact location of the two missing Korean hikers is at this point unknown. The freezing level at Mont Blanc was around 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) last night. The weather forecast for Tuesday is better and hope remains to find the four missing hikers alive.
