Swiss Glacier Rescue: Chihuahua Dog Leads Helicopter Team to Trapped Mountaineer

Flip is a small, energetic, and loyal Chihuahua, but he has a very big personality.
These are the words Flip’s owner, Jon Goller, uses to describe his dog. Last summer, Jon Goller fell into a crevasse on a Swiss glacier.
He was rescued by a helicopter—and the reason was his dog, who stayed by his side even in that terrible moment.
Both Flip and Goller love the mountains and mountaineering. When Flip gets tired from walking, his owner puts him in a bag and carries him on his shoulder so they can complete the rest of the journey more quickly.
They stop at several spots along the way, eat, and enjoy the surrounding scenery.
Goller said, “My dog can walk 20 to 30 kilometers. Fortunately, on the day of the accident I hadn’t put him in the bag, nor was he on a leash, otherwise he might have fallen into the crevasse as well. If that had happened, the rescue teams would never have found me.”
Jon is originally from the city of Plzeň in the Czech Republic and had moved to Switzerland about a month before the accident.
Goller says, “My parents gave me Flip as a gift—they breed dogs. I had another dog before, but it passed away some time ago. Flip is two and a half years old, and everyone at my office likes him and plays with him. He especially loves playing in the snow.”

What happened to Goller?
Saas-Fee, also known as the Pearl of the Alps, is a small Swiss village located in the southeastern part of the country.
Bruno Kalbermatten, who works with the rescue and helicopter company Air Zermatt, says, “This is not a small area, nor is it empty like a sheet of paper. The snow here is dirty, and finding the crevasse Goller fell into would not have been easy.
“We don’t even want to think about what would have happened if Goller hadn’t had his dog with him.” Rescue workers had seen his dog sitting on a rock.
Recalling the day, Goller says, “I had sat on a rock to eat lunch. After that, I stood up, took just a few steps, and as soon as I stepped onto the snow, I fell through and got trapped.”

The Rescue Operation
Goller says, “At first, I tried to get out of the crevasse by myself, but my shoulder was hurting. While trying to climb out, I realized my hand was in severe pain.
“I also knew that if I struggled too much, I could sink deeper and cause even more damage.”
He then used his walkie-talkie to call for help, and a couple who were on the same frequency heard his voice.
Claudia and Ralf not only alerted the rescue personnel about the accident, but also tried to keep Goller calm through the walkie-talkie.
However, even the couple did not know the exact location of the crevasse where Goller had fallen.
An Air Zermatt helicopter searched for Goller for nearly 40 minutes. They knew the glacier had swallowed him, but then they suddenly found a clue.
That clue was a dog sitting on a rock.
Bruno, from the company, says, “Suddenly, one of the rescue workers noticed movement on a rock. The pilot flew the helicopter closer and saw a dog sitting on a rock next to a crevasse.”
When the helicopter reached the spot, Flip was blown aside by the wind from the rotor blades.
Bruno says the small dog was watching all their activities, and when Goller was pulled out with ropes, “the dog began wagging his tail happily.”
Goller says that after he was discharged from the hospital, the first people he thanked were Claudia and Ralf, whose help had made the rescue operation possible.
“I am not an inexperienced mountaineer, but I had no idea that walking on a glacier could be so dangerous. That day, I learned a hard lesson.”Is this conversation helpful so far?