The bodies of Rob Gauntlett and James Atkinson, both 21, were found Saturday morning at the bottom of the Gervasutti Couloir on the east face of the Mont Blanc du Tacul (4248m). A glove left high up the couloir has led authorities to speculate that the 2 climbers fell about 600m down the 800m couloir. Without any witnesses, it is however difficult or impossible to determine the cause of the fall. Although young, Rob Gauntlett had already made headlines as the youngest Briton to climb Mt. Everest (at just 19 years old) and also won the National Geographic Adventure magazine's Adventurer of the Year award with his Everest climbing partner, James Hooper, for their North pole to South pole skiing, dogsledding, biking and sailing expedition. Rob Gauntlett and James Atkinson were in Chmonix on a 2 week mountaineering holiday with friends James Hooper and Richard Lebon.
