Hard to believe that climbers can be blocked on le Mont Blanc in this day and age but 3 Ukrainian climbers are stuck at the col de Brenva (4300m) by the atrocious weather (shades of Vincendon and Henry). They were attempting the summit. The rescue services have tried to reach them twice by helicopter but the strong southerly winds and low cloud have prevented any approach. The climbers are properly equipped with a tent and appropriate clothing but have run out of food.

http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/2011/01/09/97001-20110109FILWWW00169-mont-blanc-3-ukrainiens-bloques.php
http://www.ledauphine.com/haute-savoie/2011/01/09/les-alpinistes-urkrainiens-sont-toujours-bloques-a-4-300-metres-d-altitude

Col du Brenva, an cold and windy spot even during our summit in September

davidof - 10 January 2011 10:18 AM

The climbers are properly equipped with a tent and appropriate clothing but have run out of food.

thank god for the tent,

i wonder if they were using it anyway or carrying as a precaution for bad weather.

its hard to know what to carry when on multi-days survival wise when your hoping to go between huts.  what do u take davidof? 

i’ll remember to pack my bivvy bag for my coming scotch trip.  i think from a first aider point of view its worth it for injured people (tho they have to be slid into it).

The tent was a good idea as there may not have been enough snow depth to a snow cave on the Brenva.

We took a bit of a chance on our summit, mainly being focused on the crevasse risk rather than a weather change but we were reasonably sure of the weather, it was bitterly cold on the climb and I could not stop… I would have died in the same situation as these guys if the weather had changed. Well I had a survival blanket and a sleeping bag and a GPS with all the refuges so if I could have made it to shelter it may not have been too bad; although 5 days would have been pushing it.

Courtesy of Chamonix.net It has been cloudy today so don’t know if they got them off.

Mont Blanc: 3 climbers trapped for 5 days

During the ascent of Mont Blanc by the three mounts, Wednesday three Ukrainian climbers were caught in bad weather.

Since then, they bivouacked in a tent at 4300 meters altitude, in the Brenva pass. Because of the bad weather, the Mountain Rescue helicopter has not yet been able to recover them, but the Chamonix PGHM remains confident, especially as one of the three had already climbed Makalu in the Himalayas. The evacuation should be attempted today, Monday.

Captain Benoit Tonany, commander of the Chamonix PGHM

Radio Mont Blanc

Do you know if they really had skis with them? I got this from the initial press reports but it seems quite early to be skiing the route.

Nothing on the local news yet but fortunately it appears they are now safe:

Three Ukrainian mountaineers – members of the Sumy Regional Alpinism Federation, who earlier were trapped in a snowdrift on Mont Blanc, have been rescued, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has reported.

“The Ukrainian climbers trapped on Mont Blanc have been rescued,” ministry spokesperson Oleksandr Dykusarov told Interfax-Ukraine on Monday.

As reported, the climbers left on a ski tour on January 5, 2011 and found themselves stranded due to deteriorating weather conditions.

The Ukrainian climbers have been at an altitude of 4,303 meters above sea level on Mont Blanc in the departments of Haute-Savoie (France) since January 7.

This in the Figaro

The three Ukrainian climbers stranded since Thursday in the Mont Blanc because of bad weather have been airlifted today and come down safely in the valley, it was learned from the high mountain police in Chamonix (PGHM). Rescuers took advantage Monday around 13:30 from a window of better weather to go look at 4,300 m above sea level seasoned alpinistres three, one of whom had climbed Makalu, a summit of the Himalayas at 8.470m above.

“They dug a hole and built a snow wall to shelter their tents from the wind,” said the police captain Benoit Tonnany. The temperature, which ranged from -10 ° C and 15 ° C, have “been much worse,” said the captain. “One can easily reach -30 ° C at this altitude,” he said.

The gendarmes were to give a press conference at 17h00 to work out details of the expedition. Left Wednesday morning in a ski tour to the assault cervical Brenva, Haute-Savoie, the three men were stranded Thursday in 4,300 meters of altitude, perfectly equipped and in good health, they decided to bivouac. In constant radio contact with climbers, rescue workers tried unsuccessfully twice Saturday to retrieve and dump their equipment.

“seasoned alpinistres three” - I’ll smoke what Google Translate is smoking !