Thursday May 9, a 45-year-old climber died after being struck by a rock weighing 50 to 100 kilos, in the Vercors. She was in the middle of climbing the “Bacs Car Bonnes” route, on the cliffs of Presles, a mecca for climbing in Isère.
A 45-year-old woman died this Thursday, May 9, following an accident that occurred while she was climbing on the cliffs of Presles, a hotspot for climbing in Isère.
Alerted by a rope witness to the accident, emergency services intervened on the spot around 12:30 p.m., and discovered the victim’s body at the foot of the 300 meter high cliff. Dispatched to the site, the CRS Alpes police officers were unable to do anything and noted the death of the climber: “She would have died instantly.”
“The accident took place on the ‘Bacs Car Bonnes’ route. A person on the top rope, on the 3rd pitch, unintentionally detached a rock weighing 50 to 100 kilos, which fell directly on the climber “explain the police officers of the CRS Alpes based in Grenoble.
The cliffs of Presles are a privileged place for climbing in France. In January 2023, Laurent Garnier, owner of a 1.5 km segment of the site, decided to ban mountaineering there. A decision taken following the deconvention of natural sites operated by the French Mountain and Climbing Federation (FFME).
The payment of a fine of 1.6 million euros, after the death of a climber in Vingrau (Pyrénées-Orientales) in 2010, pushed the federation to no longer take responsibility for the risk linked to climbing accidents . Since January 1, 2023, the practitioner must now turn to the owner of the natural site to obtain accountability.
