Savoie: The chilling testimony of a skier swept away by an avalanche and remaining 35 hours in a crevasse

A 39-year-old man was found alive on Monday by CRS Alpes rescuers, after 35 hours in a crevasse in the Mont-Cenis massif, in Savoie. Emeric Ossatte suffers from a fractured left femur and frostbite on his feet. His poignant and chilling testimony was published by RMC yesterday, Monday.

The accident occurred on Sunday in the Ambin valley. After a night in a shelter, he was walking up a snowy slope when a slab broke off. Carried away by the avalanche, he fell into a crevasse, where he found himself partially buried.

The fear of not being heard by the emergency services

With only one arm free, it took him two hours to free himself from the snow. It was while freeing his second leg that he noticed its fracture. His attempts to contact emergency services failed due to lack of network. He then waited in a cavity, hoping that his relatives would report his disappearance. He feared that the forecasted worsening weather would compromise the search if emergency services did not find him by Monday.