Man nearly falls to death on Aiguille du Midi Arete, Chamonix Mont Blanc

A U.K man descending the Aiguille du Midi Arête slips, fall and has to quickly self arrest using his axe to stop him falling to certain death

[MikeHermo]

Anyone who thinks that's not nearly falling to your death doesn't understand how steep those slopes actually are.

[balloonwind]

It's comforting to know that I'll never be in this situation.

[donkstamper]

Judging from my parents stories, this is the trail they had to take to get the school in the winter when they were children.

[rjensen]

I understand why people think that it's amazing how he was so calm while in a dangerous situation. But that's how you have to handle it. When you panic, you die.

[UKGeezer]

I've gone down and back up the Arete myself when I climbed around the Aiguille du Midi and Mont Blanc, and I can tell you that's one scary place place to be, particularly if you lose your footing like this chap did. It slopes away on either side very steeply, and it's a long way down if you fall. Thank god he managed to act quickly and dig his ice axe in, could well have ended in disaster.

[Nantosuelta]

Just shows how insanely dangerous it is that a small stumble like that could kill you. Guy barely lost his footing for a second and almost went over the side

[ThatLaggyNoob]

Forget the haters, that was a fast and good reaction.

[mistergsxr]

What a save by his ice axe. Quick reflexes saved him from a serious crampon accident. So glad he’s alright💪

[moirahill]

I can never get over these amazing people who can generally walk across/down or up steep mountainous areas. I did it recently on Crib Goch but never again. These people make it look easy. They have a head for heights, an amazing centre of balance, great core strength and a healthy respect for mountains. Unfortunately, even they can slip and fall sometimes, it's just the nature of the environment.
I'm so glad this young man is safe. Well done 👏

[qurangreen]

Went snowboarding near Austria a few weeks ago and can attest to how terrifying it is to slide even milliseconds in a direction you don't want to when you are not trying to. It takes literally next to no time to build up speed and momentum and the longer it goes on the harder it is to stop. This is nightmare fuel for me but at least he stayed calm and regained his stability.

[leemorris]

Did this in the early eighties in winter. Can entirely relate to this. There was a rope, but only halfway. Absolutely terrifying. Walking in ski boots, skis slung over my shoulders, I had two Swiss army soldiers behind me. I thought I was making a fool of myself taking baby steps with the rope gone. Until I looked back and saw they were both sitting, sliding their way down. I'll never forget that day, that paralyzing fear, and then the fabulous descent on the glacier to Chamonix.

[macicoinc]

This happened to me on a similarly sloped mountain in Colorado. We didn't expect snow to be on the mountain in July and it completely covered the only path down the mountain. A storm was coming, I'm talking lighting that we could hear and see quickly approaching, so we had to make the crossing immediately. All I had on me was hiking shoes, a 30 pound pack, no spikes, no helmet, no axe, no gloves. The snow had had its surface melted from sunlight during the day, which led to about an inch or two of loose ice on its surface. Got about 10 feet across the trail and completely lost my grip and started sliding essentially as fast as gravity would allow at that angle. Probably got going 15-20 mph before I punched my hands into praying I would slow down and didn't roll down the entire slope and break my legs or slam my head against a rock. Even if I had only broken my legs, we were about 10 miles from the entrance to the trail and 20+ miles from the nearest hospital, with no supplies to deal with that type of wound. My rate of descent didn't slow much and my hands were getting obliterated by the ice, but it was the only thing I could think of, so I just plunged them deeper. I eventually slowed to an unstable stop about 30 or so feet down from where I started slipping. Just sat there for a while taking in what happened and holding on as tight as I could, my hands were completely raw, the surface skin had been stripped down and they were so so cold. Spent the next 10 minutes slowly making my way back up, repeatedly slipping back down several feet. We eventually got off the snow and I basically couldn't talk for about half an hour. My hands have never hurt like that before and I don't believe I have ever been that close to death. Imagine trying to get a grip on a surface that just has no traction and isn't solid while basically in free fall. The craziest part is, there was someone who was a day ahead of us doing the same multi-day path solo. When we got to the snow, we noticed a trail going 40 or so feet straight down, and an accompanying set of angled footsteps back up with repeated smaller slides. That person probably thought he was going to end up bleeding out at the bottom of a valley alone, at least I had people with me who may have been able to help.

[asphere]

dude did this about as fast or faster than most people practicing to do it in controlled environments (intentional slip, safe bottom). Given the immense risk and probable fatigue this is a very impressive save, with a bit of luck thrown in to keep him sliding straight

[clamboni]

The camera has a way of making terrain look way tamer than it actually this still looked insanely steep. Dude has nerves of steel and handled that like it was no big deal, as if he wasn't about to fall off of the edge of the world.

[justinmeighan]

A perfect example of how quickly/easily a slip can turn into a fall. Nice arrest, fast thinking and likely some training saved his life.

[Chris-pqwp]

Amazing that people can be so relaxed and cavalier in such a dangerous location

[FreyasArts]

This reminds me of the anecdote my history teacher liked to tell us:
On their way back from the punic wars, Hannibals men underestimated the dangers of steep mountains and thought they could make it easier by sliding down the mountains. Many men were lost during that foolery.

[flexor]

This one time I almost lost my footing in the snow in the Target parking lot so I know EXACTLY how this guy feels. So harrowing. Stay safe.

[r-t-z]

I did this passage when I was 15 and I wasn't breathing so well while looking down on this gigant slide My father told me, as we were linked by a rope, if one of us is falling on one side, the other one has to jump on the other side. Best way to handle the situation, if you don't have the strenght of a bull, of course.

[grzegorzdziedzicki]

Just look at how much falling acceleration he got in that one second without the ice axe stuck in the snow. A brave move to hit that snow again to improve handling, without it he will likely start gaining momentum with no chance of stopping.