This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
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Mont Blanc Avalanche claimed the lives of nine people, including three Britons. They were part of a group climbing one of highest peaks in France when they were hit by falling sheets of snow and rock.
Two British climbers belonged to the same North Yorkshire village have been named as among those killed in an avalanche in the French Alps.
John Taylor, 48, and Steve Barber, 47, from Upper Poppleton, west of York, were among nine climbers who died on Mont Maudit, near Chamonix, on Thursday. They were climbing for fundraising for St Leonard’s Hospice.
A third Briton killed in the avalanche was named on Thursday evening as 55-year-old seasoned climber Roger Payne – one of the UK’s most respected mountaineers.
According to the Prefecture de la Haute-Savoie, two Spanish, three Germans and one Swiss were the other climbers killed during avalanche.
The group included independent climbers and others supervised by professional mountaineering guides.
At around 5:20a.m., French authorities received reports that a “slab” avalanche had hit several groups of mountaineers who were roped together on the northern face of Mont Maudit at 4,000 metre. Several dozen French police and rescue teams along with two helicopters were sent to the scene to recover the dead and injured from the wreckage. Nine people were taken to hospital in Sallanches with minor injuries, including several suffering fractures.
It has been reported to the authorities that some climbers had crossed the path of the avalanche before it hit and others were able to turn back.
Describing the sequence of events, it said a block of ice 40cm thick broke off and slid down the slope, creating a mass of snow that was two metres deep and 100 metres long.
French Interior Minister, Manuel Valls has told that a church service is to be held in Chamonix on Saturday in memory of the dead climbers.
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