Two British climbers have just recently been saved from freezing to death, and they have their cell phones to thank for this. Apparently they became trapped on an Italian Alpine ledge in a freezing storm for 24 hours. They were finally airlifted to safety by a helicopter just yesterday. This was all thanks to a text message they sent to a friend in Shrewsbury.

Tom Greenwood and Finn McCann, who are both from Shrewsbury, left their base camp in Italy at 6am on Wednesday. They were heading up to challenge the south ridge route of the mountain using ropes. McCann said that the weather started out great at first.

This little climbing trip should have been a walk in the park for the pair. In fact, McCann has previously climbed the Alps, the Himalayas and the Antarctic. He was in training to be an expedition leader. However, Greenwood’s left shoulder dislocated, which was repetition of an old weightlifting injury.

McCann went on to say that they were about 3,000 meters when Tom’s shoulder continue to go back in, then dislocate again. However, the two decided to try for the top, sleep there and then return. Then rain started to fall, making the rocks slippery and difficult for Greenwood to climb. By the time the two reached 3,500 meters, icy rain was pouring. The cliffs were like waterfalls, and they knew they could not go up or down, so they set up camp on the ledge.

Greenwood and McCann, both age 23, used their last bit of battery power in their mobile phones to call and text their location to a friend. The climbing trip started to go bad after Greenwood dislocated his shoulder and strong winds and icy rain closed in on them. McCann said that they were worried about hypothermia. They only had two bars of battery between both of them and they were really starting to panic.