British climber walks away with minor injuries after 'swimming' avalanche

A British climber escaped with bruises after being hit by an avalanche in the Italian Alps.

The man cheated death by ‘swimming’ through the tons of snow and ice as it hurtled down one of the highest peaks in the Mont Blanc massif.

Police said the swimming action helped him to ride the avalanche near the surface and avoid being crushed.

He came to a halt after 700 metres and walked away virtually unscathed. The unnamed man was with two other Britons, Ben Tibbetts and Misha Gopaul, as they made their way down the 4,800-metre Mont Blanc to their base camp yesterday.

The avalanche began while they were on the Aiguelle de Bionnassy. Mr Tibbetts, 31, and Mr Gopaul, 33, were able to avoid it but their companion was carried away.

Police chief Delfino Viglione, based in the Italian town of Aosta, said: “The climber who was caught in the avalanche survived but he was very, very lucky. He was hit by the full force of the avalanche but instead of being buried he managed to swim it for 700-metre before coming to a stop.

“He had to be picked up by helicopter as the mountain rescue teams could not reach him but the main thing was he survived.

“Climbers sometimes have airbags to help them float and not be buried when they are hit by an avalanche but he had no such equipment. Rescue teams said he was lucky to be alive and apart from a few cuts and bruises he has no serious injuries.”

The climber was taken to a hospital but has since been discharged and is resting at home.

Company director Mr Gopaul, from London, and photographer Mr Tibbets, from Hereford, were also taken by helicopter off the mountain but were uninjured and allowed to make their way to Chamonix in France where they had started their climb.

Speaking from Chamonix, Mr Tibbetts said: “It was an unfortunate accident. Avalanches are difficult to predict. We were a group of three and one of us got hit but myself and Misha didn’t and are okay. The other guy is very, very fortunate.

“He was carried quite a way down but he survived. He rode the avalanche, floated near the top.”

It came as almost 200 tourists, including Britons, were evacuated by helicopter after their cable car to the summit of the Aiguille du Midi, part of the Mont Blanc massif, broke down at 7,500ft. They were stuck in mid-air when the cable car engine caught fire.

After engineers failed to repair the engines, two alpine rescue helicopters began making 45 trips to winch the stranded tourists to safety.