[ODUNEWS] August 15 – Adele Milloz was training to become a mountain guide when she plunged to her death ascending a mountain in the Mont Blanc range together with her friend in France.
The 26-year-old won several world, European and national titles in the sport but quit in 2019 to retrain as a guide.
Another woman, 30, who was climbing with her as part of her training programme also lost her life.
The women are believed to have been roped together when they fell attempting to reach the Aiguille summit.
Other mountaineers saw the fall and raised the alarm before having to be airlifted off the mountain themselves after going into shock.
So far the cause of the fall is unknown and police have reportedly opened an investigation.
The French sports minister, Amelie Oudea-Castera tweeted out a tribute to the former champion saying she was “deeply saddened” by the deaths of both women.
She added: “I extend my deepest condolences to her family, loved ones and her colleagues from the National School of Skiing and Mountaineering in Chamonix.”
Oliver Greber, chairman of the Company of Guides of Chamonix, described Adele as “a luminous young woman”, adding “the whole company feels infinite sadness today.”
The French Mountain and Climbing Federation added: “We will always miss her smile.”
Adele grew up in the popular ski resort of Tignes in the French Alps and won the ski mountaineering world championships in 2017 and then the European championships in 2018.
Ski mountaineering, also known as skimo, involves climbing up difficult peaks and then skiing down them and is set to make its debut at the Winter Olympics next year in Milan Cortina.
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