Voice Ocean Grove
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31 January - 13 February, 2018
OCEAN GROVE’S NUMBER ONE NEWSPAPER FREE FORTNIGHTLY
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Chopper rescue By Justin Flynn An Ocean Grove couple and their family was airlifted from Zermatt, Switzerland after heavy snow and avalanches caused the closure of the only way out of town. Roger and Di Peedle, daughter Sophie, son-in-law Wes and 18-month-old grandson Murphy were airlifted by helicopter in a special operation after the railway line was closed for safety reasons. Car-free Zermatt can be reached by train, taxi or helicopter and all roads were also closed. Di Peedle said the conditions during the family's stay in Zermatt were perfect for the first three days, but then the weather set in. "It was lovely - piercing blue sky and sun although they had terrible storms before we got there," she told the Voice. "Suddenly it all picked up and the snow came. I've never seen so much snow before and the avalanche rating was five, which is the maximum it can get to." The Peedles, who have travelled extensively, had a flight from Zurich to catch, but were told that they could face up to a week or more stranded in Zermatt. They received a call from reception of the resort they were staying at telling them that there was a chance that people could fly out in a rescue helicopter. They arrived at the helipad and that's when the chaos began. "There were more than a hundred people there lining up for tickets and they could only fly a small amount of them at one time and they had to stop by 5.15pm because it was too dark by then," Di said. Eventually the family was loaded onto an Air-Zermatt chopper and was taken on the three-minute flight where a bus shuttled them to a train and then onto Zurich. "We had less than 30 seconds for our luggage to be thrown into the helicopter and to get aboard," Di said. "They insisted it wasn't an evacuation, though. The noise inside was unbelievable." "The real stress was wondering if you were ever going to get out," Roger Peedle said. "We loved Zermatt, but when we got onto the train, Wes just said 'there's the dining car, let's just have some dinner and relax now'." The Peedles were interviewed by Swiss TV, who were amazed that three generations of the same family would travel to Zermatt. The BBC picked up on the story as well.
The Air-Zermatt rescue chopper. 177067
Roger and Di Peedle were airlifted out of Zermatt after the Swiss town experienced heavy snow and avalanches. 177067
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oceangrovevoice.com.au
Wednesday, 31 January, 2018
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