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Man falls to his death over dropped ski pole

The Local
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Man falls to his death over dropped ski pole
The site of the accident. Photo: Valais cantonal police

A Frenchman died on Wednesday morning after he went to pick up a dropped ski pole and fell 200 metres down a mountain in the Swiss alps.

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The accident happened at about 8am on the Plateau du Couloir in the Bourg-St-Pierre region of Switzerland, near the Italian border, Valais cantonal police said in a statement.

The 52-year-old man and his two French companions left the Valsorey cabin early on Wednesday morning heading towards the Chanrion hut, part of the famous Haute-Route, a hiking or ski touring itinerary from Chamonix in France to Zermatt in Switzerland.

As they descended, at an altitude of 3,500m, one of the three dropped a pole.

It was on going to collect it that the victim fell 200m and was killed instantly.

According to news agencies, the victim’s companions were his father and his son.

A helicopter from air rescue service Air Glaciers attended the scene along with two guides and a doctor.

 

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