Two British climbers, aged 22 and 24 years old, died tragically climbing the Frendo Spur (Le Pont de Frendo), at the foot of the Aiguille du Midi summit around 5.30pm in the afternoon on Friday 1st July 2011. The spur is a well-known and stunning route comprised of snow, seracs and rock sections, on the North face of the Aigulle du Midi. They fell for 800-850m, essentially back down to where they would have started their climb.
At this stage the PGHM, French rescue service, are not releasing many details about the incident, including the names of the unfortunate pair although their families have been notified and repatriation arrangements are being made.
The Frendo Spur is a 1200m climb of around Grade 5 which is a technical, potential multi-day climb with very steep sections and ice. This particular route is a popular objective for mid-grade alpinists despite the challenges of falling ice and rocks and its relatively long distance.
At 2-300m from the summit, from where it is understood the pair fell, there is a 100-150m snow field where climbers would normally rope together for security. In the snowfield it is unlikely the pair would have been able to secure themselves to the mountain itself using safety equipment such as ice-screws and pitons, as this typically requires a solid base.
Weather can play an important role in the condition of this climb with conditions at the bottom not necessarily reflecting those high up. Whilst the weather was not thought to have caused this incidence, nor an avalanche, the reasonably warm weather we had at the start of last week in Chamonix, followed by a couple of days of rain and snow (at altitude) on Wednesday/Thursday, may have led to weak bonding of the snow layers particularly later in the day when the snow has softened.
It is likely that one of the two climbers slipped or fell and, being roped to his partner, would have caused the other to fall along with him.
If we receive more details we will update this story...
