A hiker buried up to his neck on the side of a Swiss mountain was rescued by a crew from Air-Glaciers using laser-eye vision. The hiker had only one arm free which he waved at a passing helicopter. The crew’s searchlight was instrumental in locating the trapped hiker, who suffered from hypothermia after being trapped for 6 hours. Air-Glaciers-SA posted the amazing rescue footage on Facebook.
The crew was initially mobilized to search for a missing person, a young man who had gone missing on a ski tour in the Liddes region and had failed to return. The hiker had informed his family of his route, which he had taken several times before and had planned to return by early afternoon, according to Unofficial Network.
Using the light from their searchlight at night, the pilot spotted a sign of life up the corridor amidst a pile of snow. The hiker had been buried for over six hours, but his head and one arm were visible through the casting, allowing him to signal the helicopter. With the help of the guide and lifeguard, the hiker was pulled out of the snow and safely airlifted with only light hypothermia.
Unfortunately, being buried under snow while hiking is not an uncommon occurrence. In fact, CBS reported that two college students were recently rescued after surviving a blizzard for 48 hours on the second highest peak in New York state, Algonquin Mountain, located in the Adirondacks upstate.
Madison Popolizio and her boyfriend Blake Alois, who are seasoned hikers, took a wrong step and tumbled down the mountain slope. Popolizio recalled, “I was freezing. The fall pushed all of the snow up my jacket, into my gloves, in my boots.”
She credited her boyfriend for saving her life, recalling how she had said him that she couldn’t sense her legs or feet, prompting him to promptly empty their supplies and food from his bag and use it to keep her warm. Popolizio became emotional as she paused to hold back tears while describing how he had responded.
Without him, she wouldn’t have made it. When asked about what kept her going, Popolizio revealed that “He told me how much he loved me and what our lives were going to be like when we got out.” After enduring two freezing days and nights, the couple was eventually saved by the search team and Ranger Scott Van Laer.
They were too weak to move, so they yelled out upon hearing the sound of the helicopter. Van Laer recounted how he heard Popolizio’s voice and it reverberated through the air, guiding them to their location. Despite sustaining a few injuries, they were rescued and brought to safety.