HISTORIES · MONT BLANC · 1956–1957
Vincendon & Henry.
Mont Blanc, winter 1956–1957. An ascent, a rescue effort and a turning point in mountain rescue.
A winter ascent.
On 22 December 1956, Jean Vincendon, a Frenchman, and François Henry, a Belgian, leave the Aiguille du Midi. Their objective is Mont Blanc by the Brenva Spur, on its Italian side. Their plan takes them towards La Fourche, then onto the mountain’s upper slopes before descending. What begins as a winter ascent becomes a struggle to return.
The storm.
Bad weather disrupts their progress. They encounter Walter Bonatti in the massif, but do not make it back to the valley. With no news of the pair, the alarm is raised on 26 December. Aerial searches begin the following day. They are eventually spotted from the Brévent. Their presence on the mountain is now known. Reaching them is another matter.
Visible, but out of reach.
In Chamonix, families wait while journalists follow the rescue attempts. Binoculars bring the climbers into view, but do nothing to shorten the distance across the terrain. Lionel Terray leads a ground party. It is forced to retreat towards the Grands Mulets. Helicopters, too, depend on breaks in the weather and somewhere they can land.
The helicopter becomes a shelter.
On 31 December, a Sikorsky H-34 attempts to reach them. Powder snow thrown up by its rotor obscures the ground, and the aircraft crashes nearby. All four occupants survive. The rescuers reach Vincendon and Henry, whose frostbite makes moving them extremely difficult. They place the men inside the wreck. The aircraft meant to carry them away becomes their shelter.
Two groups in need of rescue.
The crew and their rescuers make their way to Vallot; the two climbers remain in the wreck. On 3 January 1957, Alouette II helicopters evacuate the men at Vallot. Vincendon and Henry are not brought down. Operations end that day. Their bodies are recovered only in March.
What changed afterwards.
The tragedy exposes failures of coordination between the different rescue organisations. It helps bring about reform: on 1 November 1958, a specialised gendarmerie mountain unit is established in Chamonix. Behind that institutional change remain two names and the question running through this story: how do you save people you can see on a mountain but cannot reach?
Sources
Gendinfo · Service historique de la Défense AHA · Vincendon & Henry, 1956 Le Monde · 3 January 1957 Archives Philippe Gaussot
Further reading: Yves Ballu, Naufrage au Mont-Blanc.