Longest Survival in a Crevasse

Dear Editor:

A recent case reported in the medical literature depicted the story of a man who survived 6 days in a crevasse after having sustained a 10 meter fall (Paul et al. 2013). The authors stated in the article that the longest known survival for a human in a crevasse accident was of one day. Indeed, a report published in the literature recounts the survival of a couple surviving for 117 hours in a crevasse before being rescued (Z'Brun 1980). Although it does not reduce the educational value and extraordinary aspects of the case reported, a survival of 6 days after a fall into a crevasse is however not the longest on record.

On August 18, 1934, a 27-year old man sustained a 20 meter fall into a crevasse after a snow bridge gave way under his feet on the “Glacier des Nantillons,” in Mont Blanc massif at 2600 meters of altitude. He survived 8 days with minimal food and clothing, melting ice with a candle to obtain drinking water. Unable to reach the surface on his own, he was found alive on August 25, when all hope seemed to be lost, by a team of mountain guides who had been searching for him for several days. Based on an interview of the victim, as well as the notes he made himself while in the crevasse, this amazing story recently became the subject of a book (Ballu 2010).

Eighty years on, and despite the improvement in material techniques, means of communication, rescue infrastructures and knowledge (Hohlrieder et al. 2010), such incredible feats of survival still happen.