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Damn, that's terrible. I've heard so many stories of aborted alpine trips this spring. People staying in cabanes, getting up for an alpine start to realise nothing froze overnight and the snow was already moving in the early hours.
Also had a few friends do the Patrouille des Glaciers and by all accounts it sounded horrendous.
Bad one on Grand Combin yesterday, on the Plateau du Déjeuner approach.
17 climbers caught in a serac collapse at 3,400m at about 6am. 2 dead, 9 critical injuries. Grim.
Temperature was above freezing up to 4200m the night before. There's a reason why you should always be risk assessing upwards but ultimately it comes down to luck.