Top French climber in Alps death plunge

GENEVA, April 29 (AFP) – A French mountaineer who was attempting to conquer the 82 Alpine summits that are above 4,000 metres (13,200 feet) was found dead on Thursday after falling the previous day while climbing in Switzerland, police said.

The body of Patrick Berhault, 47, who began his challenge on March 1 with fellow French climber Philippe Magnin was recovered by the rescue services at 7:30 am and flown by helicopter to Zermatt, southern Switzerland, said a spokesman for the local police in the canton (region) of Valais.

The mountaineer had fallen on Wednesday morning while attempting to climb to the top of the Taeschhorn, which is 4,491 metres high, said the spokesman, Renato Kalbermatten.

The Zermatt rescue services flew his companion Magnin, aged 40, out of the area the previous day, Kalbermatten added.

The pair had been writing a book about their challenge and had a website dedicated to their adventures, listing the climbs they had done and the mountains they planned to conquer.

Berhault’s publisher, Glenat Presse, said the climber had plunged several hundred metres.

Subject: French news