Adèle Milloz in a photo published on Instagram Reproduction/Instagram
Ski world champion Adèle Milloz died in an accident while climbing Mont Blanc in France. In training as a mountaineer, the 26yearold was on the Aiguille du Peigne route with a mountain guide, who also did not survive. According to AFP, an unprecedented heatwave is suspected to have caused the death, as atypical weather has created unstable hiking routes in the French Alps.
The bodies of Adèle and her 30yearold guide were discovered by other climbers in the early evening of Friday 12, but the news was not released until Sunday. The police are still investigating the circumstances of the fall. “The high mountains have become more dangerous due to the drought, but access was not subject to any particular ban,” a spokesman for the High Mountain Gendarmerie Platoon (PGHM) told AFP.
Climbers were warned last month to postpone their trips as the drought caused more frequent and dangerous rockfalls on Europe’s highest peak. Several tour operators suspended hiking packages and two mountain huts were closed to discourage adventurers.
The deaths come as France continues to battle extreme weather events brought on by droughts and recordbreaking heatwaves. According to the weather service Météo France, last month was the driest July on record and several new heat records were set last month when temperatures reached 42°C in some parts of the country.
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