A world champion ski mountaineer has died while climbing Mont Blanc in the French Alps.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Adèle Milloz, 26, and an unnamed friend, 30, died on the Alpine peak’s route to Aiguille du Peigne before 6.15pm on Friday, August 12, mountain guides confirmed.
They were more than 10,000ft up, traversing from Aiguille de Peigne (3,192m) to nearby peak Aiguille du Midi (3,842m).
Ms. Milloz, who grew up in the Alps, won gold in individual and team sprint ski mountaineering at the Winter Military World Games in Sochi five years ago.
She had retired from skiing in 2019 and was near the end of her training to become a professional mountain guide.
Her former coach, Thierry Galindo remembered her as ‘talented and motivated’.
And Company of Guides of Chamonix chairman Olivier Greber told AFP: ‘Adèle was a luminous young woman.
‘The whole company feels infinite sadness today.’
The French Mountain and Climbing Federation also stated: ‘We will always miss her smile.’
Fellow hikers discovered the women’s bodies on the route, which is considered relatively straightforward, after 6.15pm.
The deaths have been ruled an accident, with police now investigating the exact circumstances of the tragic fall.
A High Mountain Gendarmerie Platoon spokesperson said: ‘The high mountains have become more dangerous with the drought.