Adèle Milloz was a former ski mountaineering champion who grew up in Tignes, an area in the heart of France’s ski region of the Rhône-Alpes. Milloz became junior world champion in sprint and won gold in that category at the Winter Military World Games in Sochi, Russia in 2017. The young female athlete had retired from competitive sports in 2019 and was training to become a mountaineering guide.
Officials were called to the accident by another mountaineering group after they witnessed Milloz and her companion fall. The witnesses said they believed the two were roped together. Milloz’s companion, a 30-year-old woman, has not been identified.
According to The Times, police are investigating the cause of the fall. While the cause of the fall remains unknown, investigators have ruled out a rockfall. While the route on which Milloz and her friend were hiking is not considered a difficult course for their level of expertise, climate change induced droughts in the Alps have altered the terrain, making hiking conditions more treacherous.
Ski mountaineering—or skimo—involves hiking or climbing a mountain before the athlete skis down. The sport will be added to the winter Olympics for 2026.
"Deeply saddened by the death of ski mountaineering champion Adèle Milloz in Mont-Blanc, at the age of 26, and of the woman who was by her side," tweeted French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. "I extend my deepest condolences to her family, loved ones, her colleagues from the National School of Skiing and Mountaineering in Chamonix," she added.
“Adèle was a luminous young woman,” added Olivier Gruber, the Chairman of the Company of Guides of Chamonix. “The whole company feels infinite sadness today.”
The French Mountain and Climbing Federation responded to the news of Milloz’s death with “great sadness,” adding that they will “always miss her smile.”