Tragedy on Mont Blanc du Tacul
The heavy rain we've had in recent days has fallen as large amounts of fresh snow at altitude, which, combined with the wind, has resulted in large slabs of unstable snow forming in the high mountain and an avalanche risk of 4/5. Sadly yesterday morning around 9am, an avalanche hit a group of 4 Swiss climbers on Mont Blanc du Tacul, claiming one life and leaving another missing. Miraculously a female climber was found alive after 90 minutes under the snow and was choppered immediately to Sallanches hospital in a serious condition.
The 9 rescue workers plus a doctor were swiftly deployed to the area, but heavy snow conditions made the search arduous. Efforts to find the guide continued until around 4pm, when weather conditions took a turn for the worse and the search was halted. It is believed that he may have fallen down a “rimaye” (a crevasse that forms where the top of a glacier joins the mountain) which had been re-covered by the avalanche. The search for the final body recommenced as soon as the weather permitted but secouristes said it may be under as much as 7-8m of snow.
Despite the high avalanche risk, there were a number of other climbing parties in the area at the time of the accident and the rescue operation was witnessed by many tourists on the Aiguille du Midi.
Avalanches at altitude are not uncommon in the summer and indeed last August, 2 climbers were killed on the same route when an avalanche swept away their group of 10. Thankfully, since October 2006, the number of avalanche deaths in France has been one of the lowest since records began in 1970 (19 in total). This has largely been due to poor off-piste snow conditions which have discouraged backcountry skiers.
Source: Le Dauphine & PisteHors.com
Photo credit: Le Dauphine
