Mountain Rescue - Episode 5 Caught on the Abyss
- 2 years ago
Mountain Rescue - Episode 5 Caught on the Abyss
After a full night of snowfall, the ski patrol go about securing the trails and demonstrating the various strategies they use to try to avoid avalanches. But off-piste, it’s a different story. A huge avalanche has been detected in the valley and the Gendarmes fly in with all the means they have at their disposal – dogs, electronic detectors and boots on the ground - to see if there are any victims trapped under the rubble. The next call is more serious – a snowbank atop a mountain ridge that two skiers were traversing gives way, and one of the skiers was caught in the avalanche that it provoked. The rescue workers fly in and despite the danger of another avalanche, work to unearth the trapped skier and try to revive him as they fly him back to the hospital emergency unit. Lastly, they undertake a risky operation to drop rescue workers in by cable from the helicopter to extricate three unlucky skiers who have taken a wrong turns and find themselves at the bottom of a cliff with only a tiny rock ledge that they are perched on standing between them and a 500 meter abyss.
Towering above the mountains of the Alps, Mont Blanc is possessed of a spectacular natural beauty. But it also has a darker side, exerting a lethal attraction for thrill seekers, extreme skiers and obsessed climbers from all over the world. They throw themselves against the mountain’s steep slopes, treacherous glaciers and vertiginous cliffs in a bid to beat this most formidable of natural adversaries.
When they fail, the consequences can be deadly. The only thing standing between them and a certain death is the helicopter rescue squad of the PGHM (Peloton de Gendarmerie du Haute Montagne), an elite squad of Alpine Gendarmes trained to secure one of the world’s deadliest peaks. Their exploits are the chronicled MOUNTAIN RESCUE!
After a full night of snowfall, the ski patrol go about securing the trails and demonstrating the various strategies they use to try to avoid avalanches. But off-piste, it’s a different story. A huge avalanche has been detected in the valley and the Gendarmes fly in with all the means they have at their disposal – dogs, electronic detectors and boots on the ground - to see if there are any victims trapped under the rubble. The next call is more serious – a snowbank atop a mountain ridge that two skiers were traversing gives way, and one of the skiers was caught in the avalanche that it provoked. The rescue workers fly in and despite the danger of another avalanche, work to unearth the trapped skier and try to revive him as they fly him back to the hospital emergency unit. Lastly, they undertake a risky operation to drop rescue workers in by cable from the helicopter to extricate three unlucky skiers who have taken a wrong turns and find themselves at the bottom of a cliff with only a tiny rock ledge that they are perched on standing between them and a 500 meter abyss.
Towering above the mountains of the Alps, Mont Blanc is possessed of a spectacular natural beauty. But it also has a darker side, exerting a lethal attraction for thrill seekers, extreme skiers and obsessed climbers from all over the world. They throw themselves against the mountain’s steep slopes, treacherous glaciers and vertiginous cliffs in a bid to beat this most formidable of natural adversaries.
When they fail, the consequences can be deadly. The only thing standing between them and a certain death is the helicopter rescue squad of the PGHM (Peloton de Gendarmerie du Haute Montagne), an elite squad of Alpine Gendarmes trained to secure one of the world’s deadliest peaks. Their exploits are the chronicled MOUNTAIN RESCUE!