Thursday morning, twenty-eight climbers traveling in separate rope teams set out from the Cosmiques hut, on Mont Blanc near Chamonix, France. All of the groups were traveling along the “three mountains route”, which travels from the Aiguile du Midi gondola station to the summit of Mont Blanc, passing along the sub peaks of Mont Blanc du Tacul and Mont Maudit. Sometime around 5:30 a.m. the lead rope teams were struck by ice falling from Mont Maudit. Either the falling debris or the falling climbers triggered a slab avalanche on the wind-loaded slope. The slide cascaded down the mountain, catching the other rope teams in the process. One injured climber managed to call in a rescue via cell phone. Helicopters and teams with avalanche dogs responded, digging out buried climbers and treating the wounded. In all nine climbers were killed, and another nine injured in this single event.
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![The arrow shows the approximate location of the avalanche. [Photo] Keese Lane](http://www.backcountrymagazine.com//images/stories/features/twenty-eight-caught-in-avalanche.jpg "The arrow shows the approximate location of the avalanche. [Photo] Keese Lane")