Israeli killed during hike in Swiss Alps
Zvi Tov, 69, went on an adventure with his childhood friend Vitak Finkler; despite taking every precaution, Zvi slipped down a snow-covered slope; 'Had I known it would be his last trip, I wouldn't have let him do it,' says grieving daughter.
An Israeli man who was killed while climbing the Swiss Alps last weekend was laid to rest on Friday afternoon at the Yarkon cemetery in Petah Tikva.
Zvi Tov, 69, a retired IDF civilian employee from Bat Yam, was a stamp collector, but his greatest hobby was to travel. He went on his last adventure last Friday with his childhood friend Vitak Finkler.
This was Tov's second hike in the Alps, with his first being in the popular Mont Blanc mountain. Tov and Finkler decided this time they would do the more challenging track.
"The hike was supposed to take 13 days. We've reached one of the tops, and the slope down which we were supposed to descend was completely snowy," Finkler recounted.
"We attached spikes to our shoes and commenced the descent down the mountain, but the slope was too steep. We had ropes and harnesses, but as we were descending we realized it's dangerous," he explained.
According to Finkler, his best friend slipped and fell down the slope. "At some point I fell too. I called him, and he didn't respond, so I assumed he crashed into the rocks."
"I called for a helicopter and they (the rescue team) found Zvi. I asked the doctor how he was, and whether he was alive, and the doctor replied he was not," Finkler recalled with sorrow.
Tov's daughter Dikla is having a hard time coming to terms with what happened. "Dad used to do extreme sports and ride snow sleds," she said.
"He went to Australia and New Zealand like a boy fresh out of the army. Merely two years ago, he hiked the Camino de Santiago track in Spain, which is known as a young backpackers' track, and he was proud of finishing it first," Dikla recalled.
In the morning of his fatal fall, Tov sent his daughter WhatsApp messages with pictures.
"He thought about going on that trip as part of an organized group, however he and his friend decided to be more courageous and do it on their own," Tov's daughter explained.
"Had I known it would be his last trip, I wouldn't have let him do it," she lamented.
Finkler complained there were no signs indicating the track was dangerous. "It's a standard track. We did it by the book, but looking back the track was not fit for hiking. We were the only ones there. We thought we took all precautions necessary," he said.
"We are not children, and yet it happened," he added.
