Earlier this week, Sam Branson, the 29-year old son of Richard Branson, had to be airlifted to safety off the Matterhorn. He was climbing the mountain as part of the Virgin Strive Challenge, an expedition that saw 10 adventurers travel from London to the summit of the Matterhorn without the use of motorized transportation. Sam contracted altitude sickness on his way to the top, which prompted the rescue. The video below shows the dramatic footage of the young man being rescued just below the summit. He was successful in topping out, but didn’t have the ability to descend safely. He is safely down and recovering nicely now however.
Kraig is an outdoor and adventure travel writer based in Nashville, TN. Over the course of his career, he has contributed to numerous online and print outlets, including Popular Mechanics, Gear Junkie, Outside Online, National Geographic, Digital Trends, Business Insider, TripSavvy, about.com, and of course The Adventure Blog.
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I read that he was retching and struggling with sickness before the summit and pushed on regardless. If true then he is extremely determined!
He might want to consider the safety of his team mates and potential rescuers in future endeavours, though. If I lead the team there's no way I'd have let him continue.
I heard the exact same thing Andy, and I agree with you. It seems "Summit Fever" took over, and he wanted to push on to the top. His teammates probably should not have allowed that to happen either, as clearly Sam wasn't thinking clearly at the time.