Guide and client die in fall in Whymper Couloir, Aiguille Verte
- Friday 2nd June 2023
Two climbers, understood to be a guide and a client, were found died in the Whymper Couloir, yesterday.
A report by Chamonix News confirms that the two climbers were found died at the base of the Whymper Couloir on the Aiguille Verte. The group of mountaineers who found the climbers reported the incident to the Chamonix High Mountain Gendarmerie Platoon (PGHM).
Chamonix News report that they arrived quickly at the site and evacuated the two bodies to the Bois de Bouchet, Chamonix. Their reports goes on to detail the two climbers saying,
‘Immediately, one of the two dead was identified as Bernard Guerin, a High Mountain Guide who had worked for the Chamonix PGHM as a mountain rescue specialist.
In 2014, at the age of 60, Bernard Guerin retired from the PGHM and moved to the Pyrénées-Orientales region in South west France. Regularly, he would return to Chamonix to spend time with friends and to climb in the Massif of the Mont-Blanc, usually as a guide.
On what was to be his last visit to Chamonix, his client was a resident of Paris who was born in 1994.’
The PGHM believe that the incident occurred on June 1st. They deduced that the two climbers have already climbed the Whymper Coulior in the early hours but then fell back down it. It has been suggested that a belay point failed.
The report on Chamonix News also includes the following description of the Whymper Couloir.
‘The Whymper Couloir is a steep (max 50 degrees) 600 metre channel on the Aiguille Verte that holds a lot of snow. At this time of year, it has usually avalanched so there is a large volume of avalanche debris at the foot of the couloir. The couloir can hold so much snow that one avalanche will not clear it. In the current climate conditions, a snow and ice base does remain in place. There is constant risk, particularly later in a spring day, when ice, compacted snow and even rocks from the couloir walls can descend very quickly.
The couloir is fitted with fixed belay points for a abseil descent.’