{"id":18939,"date":"2026-11-10T20:55:26","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T20:55:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=18939"},"modified":"2026-11-10T20:55:26","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T20:55:26","slug":"skier-crawls-300-feet-on-broken-legs-to-survive-crevasse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=18939","title":{"rendered":"Skier Crawls 300 Feet on Broken Legs to Survive Crevasse"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"justify-start\">\n<nav class=\"align-left col-span-full mb-base\" data-pom-e2e-test-id=\"breadcrumbs\"\/>\n<p>After an avalanche swept him into a crevasse in the French Alps, a 39-year-old skier crawled more than the length of a football field with two broken legs before rescuers found him alive.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--$?--><template id=\"B:1\"\/><!--\/$--><\/p>\n<div><\/p>\n<p class=\"fp-leadCaption py-tight text-left font-utility text-utility3-size leading-utility3-line-height text-secondary\">Members of France\u2019s CRS Savoie mountain-rescue team search a snow-covered slope near Pointe Sommeiller in the French Alps after a skier was swept into a crevasse by an avalanche on November 8, 2026. <!-- --> (Photo: CRS Savoie)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-body\">\n<p>Updated November 10, 2026 01:42PM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>A backcountry skier in France is lucky to be alive after an avalanche left him trapped in a crevasse for more than 36 hours with both legs broken.<\/p>\n<p>The avalanche, which occurred in the French Alps, swept the skier into the crevasse on November 8, according to a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article-content-link text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/crsalpesalbertville\/posts\/pfbid02TK6VuoC3SFQCzvrDrxgk95YoLN1Zdc5bFMHVZNoyHwj2GW4nb4cHZ1oruemE3wUNl?rdid=H51qolapQPNtcZsC\">Facebook statement<\/a> from the French national police\u2019s CRS Savoie mountain-rescue team. The skier crawled the length of a football field along a passage inside the crevasse, searching for a way out, before rescuers found him alive on November 9.<\/p>\n<p>The 39-year-old, whose name has not been released, was on a solo backcountry ski trip near the French-Italian border. He was headed for the summit of Pointe Sommeiller, a 10,932-foot peak known for its steep, technical terrain, according to the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article-content-link text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/refugedambin.ffcam.fr\/ski-de-randonnee.html\">French Alpine Club<\/a>, when the avalanche hit.<\/p>\n<p>The peak is located on the France-Italy border, 100 miles east of Grenoble.<\/p>\n<p><iframe class=\"fp-remove\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border:none;overflow:hidden\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/video.php?height=420&amp;href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Freel%2F1182418141132398%2F&amp;show_text=false&amp;width=560&amp;t=0\" width=\"560\" height=\"420\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Trapped Beneath the Snow<\/h2>\n<p>Details of the rescue were shared in the official Facebook post, and also in a news story published by <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article-content-link text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ledauphine.com\/faits-divers-justice\/2026\/11\/09\/c-est-vraiment-un-miracule-un-homme-retrouve-vivant-apres-avoir-passe-la-nuit-dans-une-cavite\">French newspaper\u00a0<em>Le Dauphin\u00e9 Lib\u00e9re.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>According to these reports, the skier left the Alpine village of Bramans on November 7 and spent the night at a backcountry mountain hut before setting out the following morning to climb Pointe Sommeiller.<\/p>\n<p>At the base of a steep, snow-filled chute, he strapped his skis to his pack and began booting up the slope in crampons. His weight triggered a slab avalanche that swept him into a crevasse, fracturing his femur and breaking his other lower leg. Stranded without cell service, he ditched his gear and began crawling down a sloping passage inside the crevasse, hunting for an exit to the surface.<\/p>\n<p>He eventually reached a chamber roughly 50 feet beneath the snow, but the slope leading out was too steep to climb with broken legs, Major Yoann Haberey of the CRS Alpes mountain-rescue unit told <em>Le Dauphin\u00e9 Lib\u00e9r\u00e9.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>A Five Hour Dig<\/h2>\n<p>A concerned relative reported the skier missing late on November 8, prompting a search that continued until approximately 2 A.M., after the risk of another avalanche forced rescuers to suspend operations.<\/p>\n<p>Crews returned the following morning, when a helicopter spotted signs of the avalanche. Search teams began probing and digging through the snow, gradually uncovering the man\u2019s skis and backpack.<\/p>\n<p>After more than five hours of excavation, rescuers finally heard his voice coming from roughly 50 feet beneath them.<\/p>\n<p>The man was conscious but suffering from hypothermia when crews reached him. They extracted him using a stretcher and winch system, lowered him roughly 650 vertical feet down the mountain, and evacuated him by helicopter to a hospital in southeastern France.<\/p>\n<p>The operation involved 22 officers from France\u2019s CRS mountain-rescue unit, six military police rescuers, and three helicopters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe really is a miracle survivor,\u201d Haberey told <em>Le Dauphin\u00e9 Lib\u00e9r\u00e9<\/em>. \u201cThey were forecasting snowfall overnight, so after that, we weren\u2019t going to go back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Following the rescue, the CRS Savoie mountain-rescue team urged people heading into the mountains to adjust their plans to current conditions, prepare their routes and equipment, and know when to turn back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe mountain will always be there tomorrow,\u201d the rescuers wrote.<\/p>\n<p><span hidden=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.outsideonline.com\/outdoor-adventure\/exploration-survival\/skier-survives-crevasse-french-alps\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After an avalanche swept him into a crevasse in the French Alps, a 39-year-old skier crawled more than the length of a football field with two broken legs before rescuers found him alive. Members of France\u2019s CRS Savoie mountain-rescue team search a snow-covered slope near Pointe Sommeiller in the French Alps after a skier was<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18940,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wild-living"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}