Two Italian mountaineers, aged 66 and 67, victims of an accidental fall Tuesday evening, were found dead, this Wednesday, July 15, in the Mont Blanc massif. The bodies of the two experienced athletes from Genoa were discovered at the foot of the north face of Mont Maudit during a reconnaissance by helicopter.
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They had undertaken on Tuesday morning the ascent of this summit culminating at 4,500 meters above sea level by its Italian slope, by borrowing the Kuffner ridge. According to the Chamonix High Mountain Gendarmerie Platoon (PGHM), in charge of the investigation, the accident took place on the descent while the roped duo was on the French side of the massif.
The gendarmes were alerted on Tuesday at around 11:30 p.m., by their Italian counterparts in Valle d'Aosta, of the disappearance of the two sixties. One of them had contacted his family around 5:00 p.m. to tell them that there were still three hours of rope racing left to complete his itinerary.
“ There was a lot of cloudiness over the massif. They unscrewed on the north face for an unknown reason and fell at least 300 meters, "said lieutenant-colonel Stéphane Bozon, commander of the PGHM of Chamonix, confirming information from France Bleu Pays de Savoie. It was the fourth fatal accident in twenty-four hours in the mountains of Haute-Savoie.
