Four more deaths in the French Alps

by Lindsay Griffin – BMC Two 21-year old British climbers, James Atkinson and Rob Gauntlett, were killed this weekend in the Mont Blanc Massif, and many tributes are being paid to Gauntlett, who in 2006 and shortly after his 19th birthday became the youngest Briton to climb Everest. Although details are not yet confirmed, it appears the two were attempting the classic Gervasutti Couloir (800m and D- by the usual finish) on the East Face of Mont Blanc du Tacul above the Vallée Blanche. The second accident at the weekend occurred in the Fer a Cheval above Sixt, on the legendary and seldom completed La Lyre, a 500m icefall climbed at the end of December by Nick Bullock and Tim Emmett. Full details in the report by Lindsay Griffin on the BMC Website ( Source: BMC )

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