TXT messaging to the rescue

Tuesday, 7 October 2003 5:45 AM

A couple stranded in freezing weather 10,000ft high up in the Swiss Alps were saved after sending a text message to a friend in a London.

British climber, Rachel de Kelsey, and boyfriend, Jeremy Colenso, had to brave piercingly cold weather for two nights over the weekend after an electrical storm broke when they were descending the north face of Piz Badile.

Heavy snow stopped their descent and they were forced onto an exposed ridge with only a small plastic cover to protect them from the elements.

De Kelsey's friend, Avery Cunliffe, contacted the mountain rescue services but the team had to send a text message to the couple telling them they would have to brave a second night on the mountain.

"We thought we might die.

"The weather was incredibly severe, we thought our shelter was going to rip. Our clothing became wet and we thought we might get hypothermia.

"We were just praying for the storm to stop. If it hadn't, rescue would have been impossible. We are amazed that we escaped unscathed," Miss de Kelsey said yesterday.

They were eventually winched to save by helicopter.

Both were uninjured except from suffering from hypothermia.

Miss De Kelsey is one of only four women in the world to have passed the SAS selection process.

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