Overview

• On July 3, a man traversing the Fee Glacier in southern Switzerland plunged into an eight-metre crevasse after stepping onto a concealed snow bridge.
• He used an amateur walkie-talkie to summon help but rescuers initially struggled to pinpoint the barely visible opening on the vast icefield.
• An Air Zermatt helicopter team arrived during search efforts and spotted the man’s Chihuahua perched at the crevasse’s edge, establishing the exact accident site.
• Rescuers abseiled into the crevasse to free the hiker and then flew both him and his dog to a Visp hospital for medical evaluation.
• Air Zermatt credited the Chihuahua’s unwavering behavior for its role in the rescue, underlining the unpredictable but decisive impact of animal instinct in alpine emergencies.