French authorities announced on Tuesday, September 10, 2024 that four hikers who had gone missing on Mont Blanc in France on the previous Saturday were found dead. The fatalities comprised two climbers from Italy and two from South Korea who were unable to weather the severe conditions near the peak of Mont Blanc, Western Europe’s tallest mountain.
The bodies of the climbers were discovered at an approximate altitude of 15,400 feet on the French side of Mont Blanc by the Chamonix-Mont Blanc search and rescue team. The officials suggested that the climbers likely succumbed to hypothermia and/or exhaustion after being stranded in extreme weather for several days.
The Italian climbers, 41-year-old Sara Stefanelli and 53-year-old Andrea Galimberti, were found in the Mur de la Cote area, a steep frozen incline leading to the peak. The bodies of the South Korean hikers, a male and a female in their 40s and 50s respectively, were discovered slightly below the Italians at an altitude of about 14,764 feet.
On Sunday morning, two other South Korean climbers were found alive at 13,400 feet following a grueling rescue operation.
Rescue efforts had been hindered since Saturday due to poor visibility and perilous conditions. Several attempts had been made to reach the climbers by helicopter, including one on Tuesday morning, but all were unsuccessful. The Italian Search and Rescue Team from Valle d’Aosta reached the summit on foot on Tuesday morning but failed to find the missing hikers.
It was not until early Tuesday afternoon when visibility had improved that a helicopter from the French Peloton de Gendarmerie de Haute Montagne (PGHM) de Chamonix Mont-Blanc was able to take off, ultimately leading to the discovery of the four climbers.
The recent weather on Mont Blanc had been exceptionally severe, with temperatures plunging to 5°F, winds reaching up to 93 mph, and nearly 20 inches of fresh snow. Such conditions not only posed immediate threats to the climbers but also concealed their tracks, thereby complicating search and rescue operations.
Galimberti, known as an experienced climber, and Stefanelli, who had recently completed mountaineering training, had successfully scaled the Matterhorn just six days before their fateful expedition on Mont Blanc.
On the same day the bodies were discovered, a 61-year-old Danish hiker fell to his death in the Mont Blanc massif in a separate incident. The man was traversing a steep area near Saint-Gervais-les-Bains when he slipped and fell approximately 98 feet, according to the mountain police service, PGHM, in Chamonix.
Mont Blanc, towering at 15,774 feet, is a popular but treacherous destination for climbers. An estimated tally of 6,000 to 8,000 fatalities, primarily due to altitude sickness, rockfall, and avalanches, has been recorded on the mountain. The recent fatalities underscore the risks inherent in high-altitude mountaineering, even for seasoned climbers.
An investigation into the incident has been initiated by local authorities. The mayor of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, where the Italian climbers started their ascent, indicated that while hiring a guide for climbing Mont Blanc is advisable, it is not mandatory. He stressed the importance of enhancing the quality of information available to climbers to help avert similar tragedies in the future.
