Mountain monitor [The Big Picture]

Summary form only given, as follows. Some of the scores of skiers, hikers, and climbers who die each year attempting to traverse the Alps might have survived if rescuers had reached them in time. But sending in the cavalry without up-to-the-minute information could endanger the would-be saviors. Drone-based reconnaissance now seems practical, after an autonomous MD4-1000 quadrocopter made by German drone manufacturer Microdrones braved the adverse conditions along the Alps´ Saint-Gotthard Massif mountain range in June. The 25-minute, 12-kilometer trip from Hospental to Airolo, Switzerland, was far from a walk in the park. The 5.6-kilogram microdrone´s path was preprogrammed with 18 GPS waypoints selected to help it avoid obstacles such as power and telephone lines, but its minders still had to make a few adjustments to ensure that severe weather didn´t cause it to meet the same fate as Hannibal´s elephants did.