Avalanche Briton was climbing ace

1/2
13 July 2012

A respected climber was one of three Britons killed in a major avalanche in the French Alps.

Roger Payne was a mountain guide and former general secretary of the British Mountaineering Council (BMC).

Dave Turnbull, the current chief executive of the BMC, said: "The mountaineering world is shocked and saddened to learn of the tragic death of Roger Payne, former BMC general secretary and former president of the British Mountain Guides. Roger was one of the UK's most enthusiastic and respected climbers, with a track record of Alpine and Himalayan mountaineering stretching back to the 1980s. Our thoughts are with Roger's friends and family - in particular his wife, Julie-Ann."

The avalanche happened at around 13,123ft (4,000m) on Mont Maudit in the Mont Blanc range near Chamonix, according to the BMC's website.

There were at least 28 people on the route, who left just after a 1am breakfast. The avalanche came down from the Mont Maudit slope at about 5.30am.

Two British climbers and two Spaniards who were reported missing after the avalanche were confirmed by local police as being alive and well when they presented themselves at the police station in Chamonix on Thursday evening.

The four survivors had changed their climbing route on Mont Maudit, police said. It is not clear whether the two British men and two Spaniards turned around, or simply changed their routes, but they are healthy, police said.

All those believed to have been missing have now been accounted for but police said they would continue searching the area on Friday morning.

The avalanche on Mont Maudit, which translates as Cursed Mountain, claimed the lives of three Britons, two Spaniards, three Germans and one Swiss, according to the Prefecture de la Haute-Savoie.

The avalanche may have been triggered by a climber accidentally snapping off a slab of ice on the mountain, regional authorities said. A block of ice 16in (40cm) thick broke off and slid down the slope, creating a mass of snow that was 6ft (2m) deep and 328ft (100m) long, according to a statement by the prefecture.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Sign up you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy notice .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in