iPhone Emergency Call Function Saves Snowboarder After Crevasse Fall

A snowboarder who fell into a glacial crevasse while boarding alone off piste above Saas Fee says he is reassessing his life and says he will never snowboard alone again.

New Zealander Tim Blakey, who lives in London, fell five metres (15 feet) into the crevasse injuring his ankle but landing on a fragile snow bridge that stopped him from plummeting further, according to a report in the Daily Mail.

Mr Blakey accessed used his iPhone, which he reported had 3% battery left, to send an emergency signal, remembering that pressing the side button five times in succession its sends a distress call and your location to rescue services.  A Swiss mountain rescue team using helicopter support duly arrived at his location and had him out of the crevasse and heading back down the mountain in the chopper within 45 minutes.

Mt Blakey thanked his rescuers, Apple for inventing the emergency call option and the phone network for providing access to a location five metres down in the glacial ice, without the combination of which he could not see how he would have survived.  In the event he still made a planned flight back to the UK that evening.

In an Instagram post Mr Blakey wrote that he was working on ways to thank his rescuers, beginning by publicising the amazing job they do,

“17 years snowboarding, and the majority of those times spending a lot of the time solo and off-piste. Never solo again. No matter how experienced you think you are, it is no joke. I was lured into a false sense of security which also led me to be very blasé about researching the areas I snowboard. It’s not fair to say ‘my luck ran out’ because the circumstances of my survival clearly show I’ve cashed in every last luck token at my disposal.  …Life 2.0 starts now….”

Rescuer Michael Schwarzl, a 25-year veteran of mountain rescue, said “He was very lucky to have a phone signal. Three days later, I attended a similar rescue nearby, but the person fell 30 metres and died.”