Climber killed in Alps 'an inspiration', says Everest partner

THE climbing partner of the youngest Briton to scale Mount Everest paid tribute to him yesterday after he was killed on western Europe's highest mountain.

Rob Gauntlett was swept 2,000ft to his death with James Atkinson in an avalanche on Mont Blanc in the French Alps.

The 21-year-old climbers fell in the Gervasutti corridor on the east face of the mountain, near Chamonix.

Mr Gauntlett, of Petworth in Sussex, reached the summit of Everest with James Hooper when they were 19 in 2006.

They subsequently completed a 26,000-mile trek between the north and the south geomagnetic poles without motorised power to raise awareness of climate change.

Mr Hooper was with Mr Gauntlett on 15,781ft high Mont Blanc, but had been climbing a different route.

He described his former schoolfriend as an inspiration who had packed his life with incredible experiences.

He said: "He was practically a brother to me. I'm obviously devastated but I'm just trying to remember the fact that he was a wonderful person and he inspired me and others in so many different ways."

Mr Hooper, of Wellington in Somerset, said Mr Gauntlett was "so ambitious and driven to get the most of life and have the best experiences. He really pushed himself as hard as he could."

The pair were with two friends on Mont Blanc and split up to do two separate climbs.

Mr Hooper said: "Rob and James went off to do a route and my friend and I looked at a route, but didn't like the look of the weather so we decided not to.

"Then the weather suddenly cleared up, but by that time it was too late for us to start our route and we decided to come down.

"Rob and James stayed up there and they were trying to do a big route yesterday (Saturday] morning and fell."

The group had been in France for a week.

Rescuers in Chamonix said: "The two men were two-thirds of the way into their climb when the avalanche struck.

"A helicopter found their bodies. Both were well equipped and we are now trying to establish why they were unable to avoid the avalanche."

A spokesman said a serac, a large block of ice that forms on a glacier, may have broken free from the top of the mountain and triggered the avalanche.

Mr Gauntlett's mother, Nicola, who arrived in Chamonix last night with his father, David, said: "We are all just devastated. He's far too young to die. We had spoken about something like this happening only recently. We can only take consolation that he died doing something he loved."

The pole-to-pole trip in 2007, which took 14 months, led to Mr Gauntlett and Mr Hooper being named adventurers of the year by National Geographic Adventure magazine.

Making dreams a reality for others

ROB Gauntlett's expedition feats led him to team up with climbing partner James Hooper as motivational speakers to inspire others to their realise own dreams.

They met at Christ's Hospital School in Sussex six years ago, where their love of extreme sports led them to hatch a plan to climb Everest.

Mr Gauntlett cycled from Land's End to John o' Groats aged 15 and honed his climbing skills in Scotland.

The pair climbed 22,800ft Mount Ama Dablam in Nepal three years later as part of their Everest training.

Mr Gauntlett was also an ambassador for the Blue project, to connect people with the environment through sport.