Fritz Tschannen saved Jacqueline E. Bourgouin and Phyllis L. McKendry from an impending fall, Ste. Marguerite Station, Quebec, February 14, 1962. Miss Bourgouin, 29, and Mrs. McKendry, 53, were sharing a ski lift chair when the cable slipped from its pulleys. The chair bounced violently and then remained stationary, suspended 60 feet above sharp rocks. By means of a ladder Tschannen, 41, resort ski director, was able to reach another chair which was 72 feet ahead of that occupied by Miss Bourgouin and Mrs. McKendry. Climbing the chair support, he grasped the cable, lifted his body parallel to it, and hooked his legs over it. He then began pulling himself along the cable toward Miss Bourgouin and Mrs. McKendry. His weight counterbalanced the slope of the cable so that he had to move along it on a nearly level plane. He had difficulty keeping his grip on the greased cable with his heavy gloves, twice losing his hold with one hand, and he was very fatigued by the time he reached the other chair. As Tschannen rested to regain his strength, persons on the ground threw a rope to him. He secured it to the chair tied it around the waist of Miss Bourgouin, and lowered her to the men below. Mrs. McKendry was removed from the chair in the same manner. Tschannen then descended the rope.
46246 – 4727
46246-4727