Avalanche kills one and sweeps away one route to the Mont Blanc
Yesterday afternoon at around 3pm local time a huge avalanche swept down the Arete des Cosmiques, the first ridge from the Aiguille du Midi on the way to the Mont Blanc (4,807m). At 3,900m altitude a slide of almost 400m has wiped out on of the main routes to the summit of the mountain, whilst a neighbouring serac to the one which fell and started the slide remains perched waiting to drop.
The avalanche also took with it a group of climbers who were most probably returning from a climb of the Mont Blanc. Very quickly the search and rescue alert was given and five climbers were rescued alive. Unfortunately one climber, a British soldier, was not so lucky and was killed in the fall. Two of the survivors were badly injured though were no longer in a critical condition last night, having been airlifted to Chamonix and Sallanches hospitals.
