Air Zermatt, a Swiss helicopter service provider, announced on its homepage on September 24 that its rescue team had successfully brought two Vietnamese climbers stranded on the Matterhorn down to safety.
According to the announcement, rescuers in Zermatt received an emergency call that two climbers from Vietnam were in distress on the Matterhorn on Monday morning, shortly after 7am. The weather at that time was so bad that a rescue by air or by foot was not possible.
At 1pm, three rescue specialists from the Zermatt rescue station decided to climb the Matterhorn on foot to reach the accident site. Zermatt Bergbahnen was able to transport the rescuers to Schwarzsee, from where they continued their journey on foot in harsh conditions. At an altitude of over 3500 metres, the rescue specialists found the two climbers in distress.
The Vietnamese climbers were trapped in difficult terrain below the normal route. Inadequately equipped with light shoes and thin sweatpants, they were also severely hypothermic.
Due to the adverse weather conditions, the climbers could not be airlifted out of the Matterhorn wall at that time. The rescue specialists had to rappel down to the stranded climbers and then pull them back up to the normal route using a rope system, Air Zermatt wrote on their homepage.
The announcement also noted that the fresh snow and ice posed a significant challenge for the rescuers. Upon reaching the winter shelter at the Hörnli Hut, the rescuers and the climbers in distress were able to take refuge.
Meanwhile, Air Zermatt was on standby with a helicopter, ready to evacuate the climbers if there was a break in the weather.
At 2am, the helicopter crew took off towards the Matterhorn and, in two flights, was able to bring both the climbers and the rescuers to safety. The rescue of the two Vietnamese mountaineers ultimately lasted 14 hours.
"The rescuers operated under extremely challenging conditions. Without their efforts, the two Vietnamese climbers would likely not have survived the harsh conditions and would have succumbed to the cold. After a medical examination by the Air Zermatt doctor, the two exhausted climbers returned home," Air Zermatt wrote.
The Matterhorn is one of the most iconic mountains in the Swiss Alps, known for its distinctive pyramid shape. It stands at 4,478 metres and is located on the border between Switzerland and Italy. The mountain is a popular destination for climbers and tourists worldwide.
