UKH

Jan 2nd two local guides were killed whilst climbing la Cascade du Folly. Two main theories regarding the cause of the accident were put about: 1) an avalanche wiped the climbers off route 2) a block of ice wiped them from the route.

Now a third and very plausible explanation has been put forward by Bruno Sourzac, the well known and respected French ice climber, who was in fact climbing La Lyre at the time and partly witnessed the accident - he heard what sounded like an avalanche and looked and saw snow and ice and the associated blast hit the climbers sacs that had been left at the foot of the route. It was Sourzac who called the PGHM. If his theory is correct it does tend to put into doubt the stability of free standing formations at the present.

He suggests that the root of the problem lies with the fact that the start of the very cold spell that we are experiencing right now coincided with abundant falls of snow. This has led to the build up of a thick skin of ice lying on top of unconsolidated powder snow and free standing structures have subsequently built up on top of this. The continuing cold and the consequent metamorphosis of the snow has produced a void under this skin and means that now apparently solid free standing pillars are in fact hanging and not at all attached to solid rock or ground. Whilst this obviously isn't a new phenomenon, he suggests that it is particularly accentuated at the moment. He bases this from experience from his last three outings and those of his colleagues. He suggests that the climbers were actually engaged in climbing such a feature in the upper part of the route at the time. He states that there was definitely no avalanche from above.

A very well reasoned account appears in camptocamp forums - scroll down till you get to 2 long paragraphs by Sourzac. http://www.camptocamp.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=142316&action=new

In reply to jon:

Probably something to note for those currently in the alps or heading out soon for ice.

In reply to Glen: indeed. Sixt is a notorious avalanche black spot, but this seems not to eb the case. Always give the icicle a good push at the bottom to see if it moves!!!

In reply to jon: The local paper there (le dauphiné ) is saying that the avalanches have been caused by temperature inversion at the fer a cheval area, with -15 at the bottom and flirting above 0 above the funnels....

In reply to liz j: Both with the same surname it looks like a family tragedy - grim news.

In reply to cander:

Terribly sad. It was Benoit Drouillat and his brother Vincent who were killed.

Benoit's second ascent on Manitua of the GJ North face was highlighted as one of the top achievements of the year in Jon Griffith's UKC Alpine Review of 2008 article. With Pascal Ducroz's earlier death, he was the second of that three person team to leave us. Having shared the intensity of climbing and success on that route, the news must be doubly devastating for Vanessa Francois.

In reply to TonyM:

With respect and great sadness, I'd like to point out that this is not the same accident as the original post. It happened on La Lyre (as far as I know) and was indeed an avalanche this time. The temperature inversion at the moment is very marked.

In reply to jon: Very sad news, condolences

In reply to TonyM:

Terrible, absolutely terrible news.

Benoit wasn't only an outstanding climber and mountaineer, but also a true artist, as his mountain pictures were starting to get appreciated even outside the (rather limited) clique of mountain enthusiasts. Check here to see by yourself

http://benoit-drouillat.com/

Apart from Manitua (a fine achievement), three years ago these days, Benoit, Pascal Ducroz and Franck Henry had climbed the "Gousseault" line on the Jorasses (if there's one truly legendary route on the Alps, that's it). Here's a picture of Benoit and Pascal taken back then:

http://archive.tvmountain.com/images/drouillat/006.jpg

In reply to jon:
Apologies Jon for hijack of your post. Quite right to dispel any ambiguity, given the identical locations. This later accident is the one covered in Lindsay Griffin's BMC post here: http://www.thebmc.co.uk/News.aspx?id=2917

Raised it here so that it didn't get lost in the thread focussing on offering condolences about the British climbers who also died at the weekend.

Luca - thanks for the link. Benoit's photography was marvellously atmospheric and expansive. All of which only adds to the sadness.

Tony