Lost snowboarders call their City law firm for help

Last updated at 11:08 20 February 2007


Two young City lawyers caught in an

avalanche in the Italian Alps used their

BlackBerry to contact their head office

in London — which scrambled a helicopter

to rescue them.

The pair, trainees in the corporate law

department ofLinklaters, had been

snowboarding off-piste on Mont Blanc

when they were hit by a miniavalanche.

With no idea of a safe route off the mountain, they decided to phone for help. Back in EC2, mergers and acquisitions partner Matthew Middleditch decided to order a helicopter, at a reported cost of more than £1,300.

One of them, Travis Leon, managed to make it down to Courmayeur unaided. But fellow trainee Nick Higham sheltered in a mountain refuge

until the helicopter reached him.

A friend said: “Travis heard the helicopter

pick up his friend and rather hoped it would pick him up too but by then he was out of sight.

The helicopter made it down long before he

did. He managed to get back just before dark.” The snowboarders, both in their twenties, seemed a little embarrassed about the incident.

Mr Leon, from Clapham, insisted he had not made the call. He said: “I was just basically going for help. But I’m really not supposed to be speaking about this. I really shouldn’t say anything, I think I might get myself into a

bit of trouble. I didn’t make the call. I

was actually trying to go and get help,

so I didn’t use my BlackBerry.”

Mr Higham said: “We have been instructed

by the firm to keep quiet about this.

Under the circumstances it has been

confirmed by all parties that we did the

right thing.”

A spokesman for Linklaters said it

ordered the helicopter when it learned

that two employees were in trouble.

The cost was covered by insurance.

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