Latest news with #Zermatt
CTV News
08-07-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
A pacing dog helps Swiss rescuers find a man who fell into a glacier
In this photo provided by Air Zermatt, a rescue, training and transport company, a Chihuahua dog sits on snow in Zermatt, Switzerland, Friday, July 4, 2025. (AIR ZERMATT/Keystone via AP)
CTV News
07-07-2025
- General
- CTV News
Hiker in Alpine crevasse rescued... by a chihuahua
An empty gondola goes up in Zermatt, Switzerland, Dec.3, 2020. (AP Photo/Jamey Keaten) When it comes to mountain rescues, St. Bernards may have met their match, with a chihuahua being hailed for helping save a man who fell into a glacier crevasse in Switzerland. The 'extraordinary' rescue took place last Friday on the Fee Glacier above Saas-Fee in the southern Swiss Alps, the Air Zermatt rescue service said in a statement over the weekend. A man had been hiking on the glacier with his chihuahua early Friday afternoon, when he suddenly plunged into an eight-metre (26-foot) deep crevasse, leaving the tiny dog alone on the edge. The man was carrying an amateur walkie-talkie and managed to call for help, but rescue workers long struggled to locate the site of the accident. 'On site, the search for the collapse site proved difficult. The glacier surface was wide and the hole was barely visible,' Air Zermatt, a regional rescue service in Wallis canton, said. But then one of the rescuers spotted a small movement on a rock: the chihuahua had not budged from the edge of the crevasse. 'Thanks to the dog's behaviour, the crew was able to locate the exact site of the accident,' Air Zermatt said, adding that 'rescuers abseiled down to the casualty and were able to save him'. 'It is fair to say that his behaviour contributed significantly to the successful rescue.'
CBS News
07-07-2025
- General
- CBS News
Hiker saved by "four-legged hero" Chihuahua after falling into Swiss glacier crevasse
If you're told to envision an alpine rescue dog, you'll likely conjure up a mental image of a St. Bernard or a German Shepherd. A long-haired Chihuahua probably would not spring to mind. But it may be time to give the diminutive yappers some due respect. A man — who has not been named — was hiking Friday on the Fee Glacier in southern Switzerland, with his white and brown long-haired Chihuahua, when he took a step on a snow bridge and plunged suddenly 26 feet into a crevasse. A photo shared by the Air Zermatt rescue service shows the "four-legged hero" Chihuahua who helped save his owners life, July 4, 2025. Air Zermatt Stuck deep in the glacier ice, the man used an amateur walkie-talkie he was carrying to call for help, according to a statement posted online by the Air Zermatt rescue service. A person nearby received the distress call and relayed it to emergency services, but they were unable to locate the man, according to Air Zermatt. When an Air Zermatt helicopter rescue team reached the area in the afternoon, the service said the hunt for the missing man, "proved difficult. The glacier surface was wide and the hole was barely visible." "Then a decisive moment," the statement continued: "One of the rescue specialists spotted a small movement on a rock: the Chihuahua!" The tiny dog was seen perched right next to the hole into which its owner had fallen. The Chihuahua is seen by the hole in the glacier from which his owner was rescued, July 4, 2025, in a photo shared by the Air Zermatt rescue service. Air Zermatt "Thanks to the dog's behavior, the crew was able to locate the exact site of the accident. The rescuers abseiled down to the casualty and were able to save him," Air Zermatt said. "The little dog did not move during the entire operation and closely followed every movement of the rescue specialists," the company, which also operates a regional airline, said. "It is fair to say that his behavior contributed significantly to the successful rescue. The dog is a four-legged hero who may have saved his master's life."
Times
05-07-2025
- Sport
- Times
Matterhon climber was haunted by tragedy — and a vicious letter
Edward Whymper was celebrated as the first climber to reach the summit of the Matterhorn, although the triumph was marred by the deaths of four of his party. For the remainder of his life he was tormented by both the tragedy and the authorship of a poison pen letter, which he believed was connected with a prominent rival. His celebrated account of the climb, which is being republished on the 160th anniversary of the expedition, includes for the first time a copy of the abusive letter and a second note that shows the mountaineer was still hunting for the author 41 years later. Whymper was 25 when he led the expedition in the Swiss Alps in July 1865. During the descent back to Zermatt on July 14 a rope severed, leading to the deaths of Lord Francis Douglas, 18, the son of the Marquess of Queensbury; The Reverend Charles Hudson, 36, a celebrated British climber; his protégé Douglas Hadow, 19, the son of the chairman of the P&O shipping company; and a local guide, Michel Croz, 35. Whymper was the only British survivor, along with the local guides Peter Taugwalder and his son of the same name. The rope was severed between the elder Taugwalder and Lord Douglas. There were suggestions, which were never proven, that it was deliberately cut to prevent all of the party being dragged to their deaths. In a letter to The Times, Whymper described Hadow slipping, knocking over Croz and then dragging Hudson and Lord Douglas with them. 'We held; but the rope broke mid way between Taugwalder and Lord F Douglas,' he wrote. 'For two or three seconds we saw our unfortunate companions sliding downwards on their backs, and spreading out their hands endeavouring to save themselves; they then disappeared one by one, and fell … we remained on the spot without moving a single step.' • Climbers scale Alpine 'murder wall' and smash three-peak record After Whymper made an appeal in The Times for the families of the guides he received an anonymous letter which was to aggravate him for the remainder of his life. The correspondence is published for the first time in the 2025 edition of The Ascent of the Matterhorn. The letter, sent from Winchester and dated August 25, 1865, begins: 'I enclose what I believe to be the full damage actually sustained to society by the late loss of life on the Matterhorn or Madder-horn (?) peak. 'The view of The Times and the opinions being expressed in that paper by an intelligent 'Swiss' coincide with my own, and with the general opinion of the English public. 'The fact is that the members of the 'Alpine Club' are generally a vain set … Vanity — the love of notoriety — a morbid hankering for the applause of the 'stupid starers'… 'Professor Tyndall is an exception — he risks his life, and nobly, for science and truth. But what benefit do the ordinary mountain-climbers confer on anybody? None.' The letter was signed 'Anti-Humbug', with a PS reading 'I did not read your own 'whimpering' account'. • What I've learnt climbing mountains dressed like history's female adventurers Was it just coincidence that the poison-pen letter referenced Whymper's great rival, Professor John Tyndall, an Irish experimental physicist, who had made a failed attempt on the summit before strongly discouraging Whymper from making the ascent? The letter obviously rankled as 41 years later Whymper was still seeking to identify the writer. He contacted Frederick Morshead, a fellow member of the Alpine Club who reached the top of the Matterhorn at least five times, and asked for help in identifying the writer. Morshead was housemaster at Winchester College and founder of the school's Morshead House. Morshead replied on February 2, 1907: 'After the lapse of so many years I am afraid that I am unable to give you any clue which might help you to find out the author of the enclosed document. 'From the handwriting — which is not at all the Wykhamist type — and the style — which hardly carries out the Wykhamist motto of 'Manners maketh man' — I should say that it certainly does not come from anybody connected with the college.' Whymper died four years later apparently without discovering the identity of the troll. The deaths, particularly of the young aristocrat, caused outrage in Victorian society. Charles Dickens condemned climbing as 'greater folly than gambling' with 'nothing to win but an empty boast'. Queen Victoria even suggested to William Gladstone, the prime minister, that mountaineering should be outlawed. The dramatic story inspired writers including Thomas Hardy, Mark Twain and Alphonse Daudet. The debate was extensively reported in The Times, which asked: 'Why is the best blood of England to waste itself in scaling hitherto inaccessible peaks, in staining the eternal snow and reaching the unfathomable abyss never to return?' Martin Rynja, the publisher of the new edition of Whymper's account by Gibson Square, said it was clear that the reference in the poison-pen letter to Tyndall 'stung Whymper deeply'. 'As an autodidact who left school at 14, he seems to have been deeply conflicted about the fact that his fame was based on scandal rather than science like Professor Tyndall,' Rynja said. 'Despite the scathing tone, the letter writer's position is nuanced compared to the public outcry. The invective is entirely aimed at Whymper and other 'humbugs' of the Alpine Club. 'However, the letter is highly partisan and extols beyond any reproach the same effort undertaken a few years earlier by Whymper's rival Professor Tyndall purely because it was further to the 'noble' pursuit of Tyndall's scientific interests. 'This distinction appears not to have been made or discussed in the press and suggests a proximity to Tyndall close enough to be well informed about Tyndall's minor research interest.' The forward to the new edition is written by Theresa May, the former prime minister, who describes Whymper's expedition as having 'defined the relationship between Britain and the Alps and opened up Alpinism to the rest of the world'. May is a regular visitor to Zermatt and, after leaving Downing Street, said she was considering writing a novel about the expedition. She said the reason why the rope broke 'is an interesting question'. 'We can only imagine the mixed emotions of triumph and grief that Whymper felt writing about his greatest mountaineering achievement while mourning the death of his friend Croz and the loss of three other lives,' she writes in the foreword. 'He had tamed the mountain, but in its own way the mountain had tamed him. What we do know is that this important ascent was to change the course of history for Zermatt and its people, change the relationship of the British with the Alps and leave a lasting legacy for mountaineering.'
The Sun
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
SG man downs 7kg char koay teow in one sitting, stuns netizens
MOST of us struggle to finish a single plate of char koay teow — but not Zermatt Neo. The Singaporean competitive eater stunned bystanders after devouring a jaw-dropping 7kg of the beloved noodle dish in one sitting, earning applause both in person and online. ALSO READ: Singapore's Zermatt Neo takes down RM300 plate of nasi kandar at famous Penang restaurant, creates new record In a video uploaded to his YouTube channel, Zermatt shared that he visited a char koay teow stall tucked away in a location so discreet, 'not a single Google review can be found about it.' The stall had been recommended to him by a Penang local, sparking his curiosity. As the noodles were prepared, Zermatt praised the dish's aroma and texture, noting it had a 'buttery' scent and was 'slightly wetter' than usual versions. He also highlighted the generous serving of prawns, calling them 'humongous.' Then came the main event: a massive plate stacked high with koay teow noodles, sunny-side-up eggs, and a mountain of prawns — all weighing in at 7kg. Wasting no time, Zermatt dug in. Onlookers stood by, astonished. One uncle couldn't help but ask, 'Can ah?', to which Zermatt confidently replied, 'Can, no problem!' As the challenge unfolded, the crowd watched with bated breath. Against all odds, Zermatt conquered the entire plate, prompting spontaneous clapping from the impressed audience. Online, viewers were just as amazed. One user called JoyceSymes-l4p commented: 'Amazing how you could down all this food and made it look so easy.' 'I am convinced this man is an alien,' anujthakkur4161 wrote.
