Air Zermatt completes numerous rescue missions over Easter
Air Zermatt flew a total of 36 rescue missions over the Easter period from Good Friday to Easter Monday. That's a lot, but nothing unusual for the Easter season. Most of the rescuers were called to ski accidents, but also to crevasse rescues.
The splendid spring weather attracted numerous people to the mountains over the past Easter weekend. Accordingly, the rescuers of Air Zermatt were often called out by the Cantonal Valais Rescue Organization (number 144) for rescue missions. Air Zermatt flew over 36 missions between Good Friday and Easter Monday. With 11 missions, Saturday was the most intensive day for the rescue crews. The crews were mainly deployed for winter and mountain sports accidents.
In addition, Air Zermatt was called to two crevasse rescues over the weekend. On Saturday morning, three people fell into a crevasse at Ewigschneefäld in the Aletsch area. In cooperation with the mountain rescue Goms, the ski tourers could be rescued from the crevasse. One person died still on the scene of the accident.
On Sunday afternoon, a female alpinist of a three-rope team also fell about three meters into a crevasse below the Finsteraarhorn hut. Since the crevasse was filled with meltwater, the person had to hold out in the ice-cold water up to the waist. To alert the rescue services, a member of the rope team had to climb back to the Finsteraahorn hut, as there was no cell phone reception in the area. After about an hour in the crevasse, Air Zermatt, in collaboration with the Goms mountain rescue team, was able to rescue the alpinist and fly her to Visp hospital with hypothermia.
The rescue crew in action on the Finsteraarhorn.