 Blake Hartley has visited Chamonix before |
The father of an army officer cadet missing in the French Alps for nearly a week says it is a "living nightmare" waiting for news of his son. Blake Hartley, 25, has not been seen since he walked home alone on Saturday after a night in Chamonix with fellow cadets from Sandhurst Military Academy.
The group was in France to take part in a five-day trekking expedition.
Richard Hartley, from Golding Hall, Shropshire, said: "It is quite horrendous to be going through this."
Sniffer dogs
The alarm was raised after the 25-year-old failed to return to camp.
Sniffer dogs and a helicopter have been used in the search for the cadet, which is being co-ordinated by the gendarmerie.
 |  We are desperately trying to keep our spirits up |
The rescue team has been joined by Mr Hartley's mother and stepfather, Sally and David Perrin, and several of his former school friends at Ellesmere College.
Mr Hartley and his wife Sue have remained waiting anxiously at home.
"It's a living nightmare, really," the cadet's father added.
"We are desperately trying to keep our spirits up.
"We keep hoping and praying and hoping Blake will turn up on the doorstep."
The Reading University graduate, who is in his second year at Sandhurst, is a keen mountaineer and knows Chamonix well having spent three months there last year.
Mr Hartley said it seemed unlikely that his son had got lost.
"It is so unlike him. He's a very sensible, practical chap who knows exactly what he is doing."
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