A skier has survived a harrowing ordeal after being trapped in a crevasse for over 36 hours with two broken legs following an avalanche.
A 39-year-old named Emeric Ossatte, according to Le20h-France Télévisions, was backcountry skiing alone on November 8, and traveling toward the summit of Pointe Sommeiller in the French Alps, when he was hit by an avalanche. As a result, he fell into a crevasse and was unable to escape.
Despite being injured, Ossatte “crawled the length of a football field along a passage inside the crevasse, searching for a way out, before rescuers found him alive on November 9,” per a Facebook statement from the French national police’s CRS Savoie mountain-rescue team, Outside reported on Tuesday, Nov. 10.
AccuWeather noted that “[d]espite challenging weather conditions, rescue crews managed to reach the man and airlift him to a hospital.”
The Rescue Was Almost Called Off — ‘We Weren’t Going To Go Back’
The situation was sparked when Ossatte’s “weight triggered a slab avalanche that swept him into a crevasse, fracturing his femur and breaking his other lower leg,” according to Outside.
Thanks to a relative who reported Ossatte missing, a search was launched, and although it was temporarily halted due to risk of additional avalanches, it resumed as soon as possible and signs of the previous avalanche were found by searchers in a helicopter. This led to the discovery of the missing man’s backpack and skis, and eventually the man himself after rescuers heard him calling following a five-hour excavation of the snow. Locating the man 50 feet down, he was alive but injured and hypothermic.
Major Yoann Haberey of the CRS Alpes mountain-rescue unit told Le Dauphiné Libéré (translated by Outside), “He really is a miracle survivor. They were forecasting snowfall overnight, so after that, we weren’t going to go back.”
The CRS Savoie mountain-rescue team also informed anyone planning to visit the area to properly prepare and be mindful of conditions. Beyond that, excursions should be canceled when necessary, with the team noting, “The mountain will always be there tomorrow.”
More Than 150 People Are Killed by Avalanches Every Year
While the unnamed man survived the incident which took place in the French Alps recently, avalanches result in the deaths of “more than 150 people worldwide every year, many of them mountaineers, backcountry skiers, and other mountain athletes,” Earth Pulse explained while pointing to the European Avalanche Warning Services and Colorado Avalanche Information Center as sources. “Europe alone records an average of approximately 100 avalanche deaths annually, while the United States has averaged around 27 deaths per winter over the past decade.”
Those numbers were backed up by ones reported by the Mountain Tactical Institute, which noted that “[a]s of late February 2026, Europe has recorded 105 avalanche fatalities. The United States has recorded 23 — including the loss of nine skiers in California on February 17. Those numbers are serious, but in line with historical averages, unfortunately.”
The Mountain Tactical Institute also provided a breakdown of Colorado Avalanche Information Center data from the U.S. through February 22, 2026:
- 9 fatalities in Lake Tahoe, California (near Castle Peak, Sierra Nevada)
- 2 fatalities in Washington (Longs Pass)
- 1 fatality in Idaho (Centennial Mountains)
- 1 fatality in Utah (Caribou Basin)
- 1 fatality in Utah (Snake Creek)
- 1 fatality in Wyoming (Salt River Range)
- 1 fatality in California (Castle Peak snowmobiler)
- 1 fatality on Lincoln Mountain, CA (ski patroller)
- 1 fatality in Wyoming (Point 9279)
Avalanche Survivor Found After 36 Hours Trapped in Crevasse With 2 Broken Legs