Hikers scaling Mont Blanc have stumbled upon the body of a mountaineer who disappeared 32 years ago while attempting to climb one of its main peaks.
Patrice Hyvert, aged 23 at the time of his disappearance on March 2, 1982, was found on the Talefre glacier on the French face of Europe’s highest mountain.
The young mountaineer, who was training to become a guide, had been attempting a solo ascent of the Aiguille Verte peak, which rises to 4,122 metres (13,500 ft), when he was trapped at altitude in atrocious weather.
Renowned mountaineer Jean-Marc Boivin was scaling the northern face of the Grands Charmoz peak the same day when heavy snow started falling. He was rescued alive two days later, but despite several attempts by mountain rescue services to find Mr Huyvert with helicopters, he was never seen again.
“We think he reached the summit in bad weather then chose to go back down on another face, via the Whymper corridor,” his father told La Dépêche newspaper.
