View of the glacier on the Italian side of the Mont Blanc massif. – Riccardo Dalle Luche / AP / SIPA
A 24-year-old man who practiced ski touring in Haute-Savoie despite the obligation to containment was found dead Sunday at 2,300 meters above sea level in the Massif du
Mont Blanc, we learned from mountain rescue workers.
His body was discovered around 12:30 p.m. by rescuers of the Chamonix High Mountain Gendarmerie Platoon (PGHM) on the steep slopes located along the tram line leading to the Eagle’s Nest refuge. According to the first elements of the investigation, this young Haut-Savoyard from the neighboring resort of Les Houches had started alone on Saturday morning from his ski area and progressed towards the Goûter refuge, located at 3,800 meters above sea level.
“He unscrewed and fell 300 meters. The accident probably took place on Saturday, “Chamonix PGHM commander Stéphane Bozon told AFP, confirming information from France Bleu Pays de Savoie. It is a neighbor of the skier, worried to note that the young man did not give sign of life and that his skis were missing, who gave the alert this Sunday at noon.
Another hiker rescued
This Sunday, the Chamonix PGHM also intervened in Savoy for the benefit of a 27-year-old man who found himself stranded during a hike in the vicinity of the town of Mercury, where he had traveled by car to hike despite the containment measures.
On March 25, the prefect of Haute-Savoie issued an order “prohibiting attendance and activities in the mountains as part of the fight against the coronavirus”. The text prohibits “all travel in the mountains within a radius of more than 100 meters in elevation above the containment site”, until April 15.
On Sunday, the chairman of the Chamonix PGHM Stéphane Bozon condemned the “irresponsibility” of the practitioners who continue to defy the obligation of confinement. “We patrol a lot and we still observe groups everywhere,” laments Stéphane Bozon. “Recreational accidentology must stop as soon as possible so as not to overload hospitals involved in the fight against the coronavirus”.
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