Finn McCann and Tom Greenwood, both 23, spent the night in their sleeping bags 11,000ft up the Italian side of Mont Blanc in the Alps after being trapped by a storm on Wednesday.

However, they texted the friend in their home town of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, using a mobile phone that was rapidly losing its battery supply. They gave the friend details of their location and he then got in touch with the authorities. A rescue helicopter took them to safety.

The friends had earlier discovered that the emergency numbers they had keyed into their phones did not work and said they were ‘scared for their lives’.

Mr McCann and Mr Greenwood – who have both climbed the Alps, Himalayas and mountains in the Antarctic and were well-equipped – said they continued the climb up the south ridge using ropes. However, Mr Greenwood was suffering from a dislocated left shoulder. He added: “We were worried about hypothermia and with two bars of battery between us we were really panicking.”

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