Search Called Off for German Climbers on Mont Blanc

10th August 2024

Two German mountaineers remain missing after a serac collapsed triggering an avalanche.

The accident happened on Monday and it is likely the two climbers in their 30s were swept into a crevasse as the block of ice collapsed.

Another person died in the incident and four others were injured as we reported lower down this ‘Ski News in Brief’ rolling blog on Tuesday 6th August.

“The search is over,” said Jean Ailhaud, said the deputy prosecutor in the Alpine town of Bonneville to the AFP newsagency.

“Unfortunately there is no longer any point.

“They were most probably hurled into the crevasse which is now covered in 10m of snow.

“It would be suicidal to try and climb down.

“The glacier will one day return the bodies.”

Mont Blanc, France. Image © PlanetSKI

Warming temperatures are making the ice and rocks more unstable as the permafrost weakens.

A guard at the Plan de l’Aiguille mountain hut, Eddy Veillet, filmed rocks tumbling down the north face of the Aiguille du Midi above Chamonix.

 

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