It's a happy ending that the mountain rescuers probably didn't expect.
The disappearance of a 46-year-old ski tourer, Aurélie Dutertre, had been reported Friday evening by her companion who did not see her returning to her starting point in the Belledonne massif in Isère, as planned.
Mountain rescue dispatched, at the earliest on Sunday morning due to weather conditions, a land caravan of five people to try to locate the hiker, with the support of a helicopter.
But the heavy snowfalls let us fear the worst at this altitude.
The rescuers had also given up access to the 7 Laux plateau on Saturday, where the skier had made a last contact on Wednesday evening, because of the high risk of avalanche, and had launched a call for testimony.
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After several days of worry, the rescuers found Aurélie Dutertre “
in good health
”.
The hiker had taken refuge “
in one of the huts which are located between the lakes of 7 Laux
”, explained the rescue unit to
France 3 Alpes
.
"
The amount of snow that had fallen was so heavy that she could no longer open the cabin door from the inside
."
In front of this shelter buried under the snow, the rescuers had to clear the access to find the mountaineer.
Evacuation on skis
The skier, slightly weakened by hypothermia, was evacuated on skis at midday, the helicopter not being able to fly over the area due to the clouds.
“
It is not always the prognosis that we envisage after several days and when it happens like that, everyone is happy
”, rejoiced the rescuers with France 3 Alpes.
The skier was evacuated on skis at midday.
CRS Alps
The young woman had left Fond de France to reach the lakes of 7 Laux.
Stuck on the plateau, she then had to, according to the planned route, reach the Combe Madame refuge via the Mouchillon pass before returning to the starting point.
The ski touring route does not involve great difficulty.
But weather conditions can quickly complicate the situation, as often happens in the mountains.
On this course in particular, the difficulties of orientation and the risk of avalanche which depend on the fog and the snowfalls can be fatal.
