On June 7, a young skier fell to his death from Aiguille Verte (4,122m) in the Alps.
Maxime Manhes and Alois Hebette aimed to ski down the mountain via the Cordier Couloir when Manhes, 21, fell over 600m to his death, according to Philippe Poulet from Montagnes Magazine.
The Cordier Couloir (5.5 E4) is a very steep route on the north face of Aiguille Verte. Yves Detry opened the route in 1977, but it is rarely skied. Marco Siffredi and Bertrand Delapierre skied it in 2000, Kilian Jornet and Alexandre Lafarge in 2016, and Jules Berger and Pierre Espieusas skied down in 2021.
A week before the accident, on June 1, Manhes accompanied Hebette to Aiguille de Bionnassay (4,052m) where Hebette skied a steep, narrow exploratory couloir. Both men are from Saint-Gervais.
Manhes was a skilled sportsman; as well as a skier and alpinist, Manhes competed in judo and trail running.
There have now been four deaths in one month on Aiguille Verte.
A map of Aiguille Verte. The Cordier Couloir is marked with a red dot. Photo: Camp to Camp
