In reply to Pete of the Alps:
> (In reply to John W) A Chamonix guide was killed in the Fournel valley last weekend when when the 40 meter high cigar he was climbing up snapped off. His rope was cut by the falling ice saving his second from following him!
He was really unlucky, as he was almost out of the free standing last pitch of "Baiser La Lune", with his axes already fixed on the upper "lip" below the belay stance, when the column has collapsed. His rope got entangled in a screw below, so he got buried under the ice. There were other three teams on the pitches below, but they couldn't do anything for him.
