Pictured: First British victim of avalanche that killed nine climbers - including three from UK - on 'cursed mountain' in the French Alps

• Former president of British Mountain Guides, Roger Payne, among the dead
• Four missing climbers, including two Britons, have been found safe
• The Brits had taken a different route and were unharmed
• Alarm raised by injured climber at 5.30am local time
• Climbers hit by avalanche on 4,400m Mont Maudit, on way to Mont Blanc
• Death toll includes three Britons, two Germans, two Swiss and two Spanish
• Bodies of three British climbers 'found hours after avalanche'
• Snow slide 'may have been caused by lone mountaineer' ahead of group

By Chris Parsons and Peter Allen

One of the three Britons killed in the Mount Maudit avalanche has been identified as a respected climber and former president of the British Mountain Guides.
Roger Payne had over 30 years’ experience climbing world famous peaks, including the Alps and the Himalayas, and was a former general secretary of the British Mountaineering Council.
Dave Turnbull, the current chief executive of the BMC, said: "The mountaineering world is shocked and saddened to learn of the tragic death of Roger Payne, former BMC general secretary and former president of the British Mountain Guides.

Tragedy: Experienced climber Roger Payne was killed by the avalanche in the Alps. On the right, he is pictured during a climb in the Himalayas

‘Roger was one of the UK's most enthusiastic and respected climbers, with a track record of Alpine and Himalayan mountaineering stretching back to the 1980s.
‘Our thoughts are with Roger's friends and family - in particular his wife, Julie-Ann.’
Four of the missing climbers from the Mont Maudit avalanche, including two Britons, have been found alive and well.
The pair had taken a different route to the rest of the group and were not harmed by the avalanche which claimed nine lives.
Nine climbers, including the three Britons, were killed in the  'deadliest avalanche in years' which struck near Mont Blanc in the French Alps this morning.
The massive snow slide happened at around 5am, as a group of 28 experienced climbers made their way up Mount Maudit, which is in the Mont Blanc range.

Most of them were roped together on the 4,400m (13,100 feet) climb, which is considered one of the most dangerous ascents in Europe.

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Expert mountaineer Klemen Gricar took these pictures of climbers waiting to be rescued from Mont Maudit just minutes after the avalanche

Buried: Photos taken just 20 minutes after the catastrophic snow slide show rescuers and mountaineers assessing the avalanche of snow on Mont Maudit

Rescue: The climbers affected by the avalanche were part of a 28-member group of experienced mountaineers

Aftermath: Huge banks of snow blanket the north face of Mont Maudit minutes after the deadly avalanche

Snow slide: Experts said the avalanche was caused when one of climbers dislodged a 1ft-deep bank of snow on Mont Maudit

The deathtoll will remain at nine, Emmanuel Vegas, a lieutenant with Chamonix police, said.
‘There are no more people on the list of those missing.’

Stranded on the mountainside minutes after a natural disaster which claimed nine of their climbing colleagues, these pictures show mountaineers waiting  to be rescued from the French Alps after this morning's devastating avalanche.
A French police spokesman said the two survivors who had now been accounted for were British. ‘They are both comparatively well,’ he added.

Two others, both Spaniards, were believed to have set out on the climb, but in fact stayed back in Chamonix.

The breakthrough meant that everybody on the climbs had now been accounted for.

Unavoidable: Mountain guide Klemen Gricar's avalanche aftermath pictures show the devastating sheets of show after they shifted down the mountainside

Help: Three members of the 28-strong group wait for their rescue minutes after the Mont Maudit snow slide in the French Alps

Flying rescue: This was the view climbers had of helicopters flying towards the mountain to lift them to safety soon after the avalanche

Desperate search: Emergency crews and climbers tried in vain to locate nine of their party, but were too late to save them

Disastrous: Rescuers could do nothing to save nine climbers hit by the avalanche, as bodies were returned from the mountainside by helicopter

Tragic: The French Gendarmerie wheel away the body of the one of the avalanche victims as crews continued their desperate search for survivors

Saved: Emergency crews arrive back in Chamonix with a survivor from the avalanche

The six dead in the avalanche were said to have been in a group of 20 climbers when they were caught in the snow slide

At the scene: The climbing route where emergency crews focused their searches is said to be one of the most dangerous in Europe

French rescuers said the disaster happened when one of the climbers dislodged a bank of snow 1ft deep.
The bodies were said to have been found buried under the snow several hours later, French officials said.

Several dozen gendarmes and other rescuers along with two helicopters worked to pull the dead and injured from the mountain.

 

Rescuers from the Alpine PGHM (mountain rescue service) said the initial estimated death toll was 'at least six'.
'There are around eight others injured and at least two people missing,' added a spokesman, who said that the avalanche had been caused by snow collapsing in July heat. 
'We were initially alerted just after dawn by one of the survivors who called us on a mobile phone.'
Colonel Bertrand Francois, commander of the Haute-Savoie gendarmerie, said that two more Britons and two Spaniards were among the seven climbers unaccounted for. 
‘This does not mean that they are under the avalanche but we are extremely concerned for their safety,’ said Mr Francois.
All of the injured have been evacuated by helicopter to nearby hospitals, as police supported by search dogs continued to look for survivors.
There were 28 people in the mountaineering group, from several countries including Switzerland, Serbia, Germany, Spain and France.
Five of the group are now safe back down in the valley, including a guide, but others in the party are still missing.

Climbers who were only 100 meters away from the avalanche, left, visiting survivors at Sallanches Hospital and Sir Peter Ricketts, right, the British Ambassador to France arrived in Chamonix this evening

Perilous: The Mont Blanc route, with Mont Maudit to the right, is one particularly popular with tourist climbers (file picture)

Rescue: A helicopter from the Securite Civile (emergency services) flies over the Mont Blanc massif as investigators look for those stranded in the avalanche

It was reported that at a press briefing following the avalanche, claims were made that a lone mountaineer may have set off the avalanche above the group.

THE WORLD'S MOST ACCESSIBLE BUT DEADLIEST MOUNTAIN RANGE

The Mont Blanc massif, although hugely popular with tourists, is an extremely dangerous climbing area which takes over 100 lives every year.
The route has some of the most easily accessible mountains in the world, but has hidden perils due to its changeable climate.
Unprecedented storms, as well as falling blocks and lightning strikes, all contribute to the dangers of the mountain range.
In August 2008 eight climbers – three Swiss, one German, and four Austrian - died in a similar accident on the nearby Mont Blanc du Tacul.
And a year earlier there was an even more catastrophic death toll, as nearly 30 were killed on Mont Blanc and its satellite peaks in July 2007.
More recently, a Norwegian cross-country skier died in April after being caught up in an avalanche on Mont Blanc, only about a month after a Canadian skier died after plunging into a 20-metre (65-foot) crevice on the mountain.
The latest tragedy on Mont Maudit - literally meaning 'Cursed Mountain' - is the biggest disaster to happen in the French Alps in a decade.

The six dead have been confirmed as two Germans, two Swiss, and two Spanish mountaineers, according to Chamonet.com.
Chamonix-based mountain guide Richard Mansfield said the route where the accident happened was the second most popular to the top of Mont Blanc.
Mr Mansfield said it was not unusual to have 100 people a day use it.
He said: 'It's a very beautiful area and a common route but it can have very serious
consequences, particularly due to avalanches.'
Mr Mansfield, who runs mountainadventureguides.co.uk, said the slopes on Mont Maudit face away from the prevailing wind which means snow is pushed over, forming slabs.
'These can easily be set off by a passing climber, causing an avalanche.'
At 4345m, Mont Maudit is one of a range of peaks also including Mont Blanc du Tacul which are hugely popular with climbers in the summer.
The first ever ascent of Mont Maudit was by a British party in 1878. Because of its steep slopes and abundance of thick ice it is often likened to a glass tower block.
Despite being popular as a tourist destination with thousands of Britons in both the winter and summer, the Mont Blanc range is one of the most lethal in the world.
It has killed more climbers than any other mountain range, with the annual death toll regularly reaching beyond the 100 mark.
Many lose their lives as they attempt to scale its peaks with insufficient training or supplies.
There were no avalanche warnings before the 'deadliest snow slide in recent years', said Eric Fournier, the Mayor of Chamonix.
Mr Fournier said: 'There were no weather reports forecasting an avalanche risk.'

Recovery: Five Britons are said to be among those still missing from the group of 28 climbers, as helicopters rushed to the scene

Instead huge walls of snow are believed to have been created by high winds overnight, creating so-called 'Wind Slabs' which are hugely dangerous when they collapse.
Today's avalanche is thought to have happened at dawn, as the heavily impacted snow began to warm up and then cascade downwards.
In August 2008 eight climbers - three Swiss, one German, and four Austrian - died in a similar accident on the nearby Mont Blanc du Tacul.
A Foreign Office spokesperson would not confirm the three British deaths, but said they are working with rescue authorities to confirm the reported tragedy.

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