Adéle Milloz, French Skiing Champion, Dead at 26

By Brian Jones

Adéle Milloz, a French ski mountaineering champion, and an unidentified female died on Friday while climbing on the Mont Blanc mountain range in the Fench Alps, according to the French Mountain and Climbing Federation (per CBS Sports). Milloz was 26 years old and the unknown female was 30. According to The Times in the United Kingdom, mountain officials were alerted when another group saw Milloz and the female fall. Eyewitnesses said the two were roped together at the time of their deaths. 

Officials said that the route Milloz and the female were traveling wasn't "particularly difficult," but due to the recent droughts in the area, climbing the French Alps is more challenging than normal. The cause of the deaths is unknown at this time. "It is with great sadness that we learned on Friday of the death of Adèle Milloz, young world ski mountaineering champion and aspiring mountain guide," the statement from the French Mountian and Climbing Federation said. "It was as part of her practice of mountaineering that the young woman killed herself on the normal route of Peigne, in the Mont-Blanc massif. The circumstances of the tragedy are not yet determined."

French Sports Minster Amélie Oudéa-Castéra relased a statement when she learned about Milloz and the woman's death. She said she is "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 his side. I extend my deepest condolences to his family, loved ones, his colleagues from the National School of Skiing and Mountaineering in Chamonix."

Milloz had been skiing since the age of 15. She was an accomplished skier, becoming a junior world champion in sprint and winning a gold medal at the Winter Military World Games in Sochi in 2017. In 2019, Milloz retired from ski mountaineering to train as a professional mountain guide. Ski mountaineering is when skiers climb a mountain before descending on skis. It is set to make its Olympic debut in 2026 when the games are in the Italian cities Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo. 

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