Rega rescues climber from Grand Muveran

On 19 March, working with three Swiss Alpine Club (SAC) mountain rescuers, Rega completed what it described as a ‘spectacular’ rescue to assist a climber from the north face of Grand Muveran. The 23-year-old was flown to hospital with mild hypothermia.

The climber was making a solo ascent on the north face about 80 m (260 ft) below the 3,050-m (10,000-ft) summit of Grand Muveran when he could not continue due to acute exhaustion. He raised the alarm at around 15:00 hrs using the Rega app on his phone. The app gave the Rega Operations Centre his co-ordinates, and a Rega helicopter was dispatched from Zweisimmen.

The crew judged that a direct rescue from the wall by winch was impossible due to the risk of the helicopter’s downwash dislodging the man from his unsecured position. Instead, the SAC rescuers were dropped at the summit – one was lowered down to secure the man to allow the helicopter to safely winch him off the mountain.

Rega commented that its app has now been used in more than 1,500 rescue operations.