A NORTH-EAST climber who plunged 1,000ft to his death in the French Alps after scaling Mont Blanc has been named.
Simon Bates, 30, of Gosforth, Newcastle, was with friends on the Gouter corridor, a popular access route to Mont Blanc, when he “lost his balance”, according to French police.
Mr Bates, who died on Saturday, September 21, was on holiday with eight friends and had summitted Mont Blanc’s 15,781ft peak on the previous day.
According to police, five of the party then climbed down and returned to the French town of Chamonix, which sits at the foot of Mont Blanc.
The other four had climbed down to a high mountain refuge, which is at an altitude of about 12,600ft, where they stayed the night on Friday and then continued their descent on Saturday morning.
Mr Bates was at an altitude of 11,155ft when he fell.
Newcastle’s coroner’s office today (Tuesday, October 1) confirmed that Mr Bates’ body had been repatriated from France.
An inquest will be opened on Friday, before being adjourned pending further inquiries.
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