The Castaways Of Mont Blanc

53min

History

Documentary

Drama

This documentary is a reconstruction, based on archive footage, testimonies, and filmed reconstructions, of the Vincendon / Henry tragedy. December 1956: Jean Vincendon and François Henry, two young mountaineers, aspire to join the High Mountain Group. Lacking experience, they set out to climb Mont Blanc via the Brenva spur in the middle of winter. The weather conditions deteriorated, and they decided to give up before meeting Walter Bonatti and Sylvano Gheser. They then decided to continue the climb and set off in two different roped parties. Bonatti decided to take refuge at the Vallot refuge higher up, rather than descend. The two young mountaineers, overcome by the poor weather conditions and fatigue, remained stuck for several days at 4,000 meters. What followed was a completely disorganized rescue operation that became, for more than ten days, a spectacle for all of France and a national tragedy.

Production Companies

France 3

MFP

France 5

Cast

Jean Vincendon

Jean Vincendon

Self (archive footage)
François Henry

François Henry

Self (archive footage)
Lionel Terray

Lionel Terray

Self (archive footage)
Walter Bonatti

Walter Bonatti

Self (archive footage)
Louis Piraly

Louis Piraly

Self (archive footage)

Release date

1st Jan 2002

Status

Released

Spoken languages

Français