54 | March• 2018
41 HOURS ALONE IN THE SNOW
hostel the ski club members and
Nici’s father are growing increasingly
fearful for him.
As the night wears on, the chances
of finding Nicolas alive recede by the
hour. More than a few people are
starting to think he must have fallen
into a gully or over a precipice.
While still hoping for a miracle,
Junge-Hülsing also fears the worst.
“It’s best if you stay home,” he tells his
wife, Katrin, on the phone. “There’s
nothing you can do to help here.”
Katrin stays put in Munich and
waits for more news. Eleven-year-old
Josefine, known to everyone as Fini,
sits beside her. “Nici’s alive, I know it,”
says the youngest of her three daugh-
ters. “I can feel his heart beating.”AWHITEHELLOUTSIDE
THE DOOR
When hope fades and fear takes hold,
it’s all too easy to let loneliness get the
better of you.
Nici lies on the mattress and
switches his phone on for a few sec-
onds so he can comfort himself by
looking at the picture of his mum, dad
and three sisters.
And then he does something he
would never normally do: he prays,
speaking the words out loud and
clear:Dear God, I can’t call the peo-
ple who are worried about me, but
please let them know that I’m alive and
well. And if anyone feels like they’re to
blame, tell them it’s nobody’s fault.
The sound of his own voiceAir-Rescue helicopter returned in the
middle of the night?
It’s a military helicopter. The lead-
ers of the search operation have
drafted in a Super Puma from the
Alpnach Air Base with a thermal im-
aging camera so that they can detect
anysignsoflifeinthesnow.Butthe
camera can’t ‘see’ through the walls
of Nici’s shelter.
At around midnight, they give up
thegroundsearchforthenight.The
search team return to headquarters
for a briefing, while back at the youth PHOTO:
COURTESY NICOLAS JUNGE-HÜLSINGAfter more than 40 hours, Bernhard
is finally able to hug his son again