Lost snowboarders call their City law firm for help

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.