Man and son tragedy on Mont Blanc

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A British father plunged to his death in the Alps while desperately searching for his 12-year-old son who had been killed in a fall minutes earlier.

 

Police believe Peter Saunders, who had been hiking with his son Charlie in the snow on Mont Blanc, was on the phone to emergency services asking for help when he lost his footing.

 

The 48-year-old managed to tell rescuers his son had fallen out of sight down a couloir – a deep gully – but communication was cut off before he could give the location. An attempt to speak to him again is understood to have left rescuers able to hear only his footsteps and laboured breathing as he trudged through the snow in a frantic state on Saturday.

 

They kept calling back but went straight to answerphone – and it is believed that by then he had plunged into the same gully as Charlie.

 

Interpol were later able to contact Mr Saunders’s wife Sandra in Buckingham, Buckinghamshire, and, using a photograph her husband and son had sent her from the mountain earlier in the day, pinpoint their whereabouts.

 

Their bodies were found at 7.40am yesterday, more than 16 hours after Mr Saunders’s call, during the fourth aerial search. Charlie had fallen about 980ft. His father was discovered about 150ft above him. They were at an altitude of 5,000ft on the 15,781ft mountain.

 

The area where the tragedy happened has a number of footpaths which weave in and out of the mountainside.

 

Richard Mansfield, a British mountain guide who has worked in the area for 20 years and lives 1km from the Bossons glacier, said trails on the north side of the valley were currently 'covered in snow'.

He said: 'The footpaths usually don't get that many people out at this time of year because they are much more difficult to navigate, although yesterday was a beautiful sunny day.'

 

Police said the pair were wearing normal walking boots on a route rarely dared in winter where crampons and proper climbing gear are essential.

 

Captain Patrice Ribes of the mountain police said yesterday in the French ski resort of Chamonix: ‘We think the man fell while he was on the phone to the police. We think he called immediately after his son had fallen and that he fell very shortly after. It all happened very quickly.’

 

A Foreign Office spokesman said it was providing consular assistance to the family ‘at this difficult time’. A statement from the family issued by the Foreign Office last night said:‘Peter and Charlie Saunders were involved in a tragic accident whilst walking in the French Alps.

 

They had flown to the French Alps for a short weekend of adventure in the Chamonix valley. They were to have a half-day walking followed by a full day skiing. Their bodies were recovered by the local mountain rescue this morning.

 

‘Charlie was always full of life, had a really happy temperament and loved spending time with his father. Peter was fantastic at making things happen, resourceful, with a positive approach to life. They will both be sorely missed by friends and family alike.’

 

The pair had arrived in the Chamonix valley on Saturday morning and were booked into the two-star hotel Les Melezes in the nearby town of Les Houches.

 

According to police the area they had chosen to hike, called La Jonction, at Les Bossons is a popular summer route rather than suitable for winter or early spring. There are steep escarpments and the path is often covered with snow and ice at this time of the year.

 

Captain Ribes said: ‘It is a dangerous, deep, snowy hike. It is not a route that is chosen much at this time of the year, especially without snowshoes. In the winter you cannot see the path, it is hidden by snow.

 

‘The accident is being investigated and it will determine the circumstances of the accident, as well as the level of preparation of the hiker and his experience. The father and son should have had proper mountain equipment – crampons and climbing gear.’

 

It was just before 3pm on Saturday when the emergency centre in Annecy received the frantic call from Mr Saunders.

 

Reproduced with permission from the daily scum. Well, my gran, actually. But I'm sure she got permission.

 

Sad story.

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Imagine being the wife on the end of that phone call.

 

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Fell while on the phone.

 

 

From something else I read, it seems they were somewhat unwise to be doing what they were doing.