New Balance has stepped up their game

were among the dead. Early ummer storms left behind heavy snow that combined with high winds to form dangerous overhanging conditions on some of the popular climbing routes around Mont Blanc. "It was too dangerous. Everyone has been waiting for something to happen there," said Swedish web designer Michael Andersson, who three days before turned back at roughly the same spot where the avalanche occurred. "But nobody could think it would be this big or this many people." The dead included the former head of the British Mountaineering Council, Roger Payne, and clients he was leading up the Trois Monts route to the 15,782foot (4,810meter) summit of Mont Blanc, the group said on its website. Initial reports said four climbers were missing, but by nightfall all were accounted for, including two who had turned back before the avalanche. Among the dozen injured was an American, the only known nonEuropean. A seriously injured Swiss citizen was transported to a Swiss hospital. Current British Mountaineering Council head Dave Turnbull said the mountaineering world was "shocked and saddened" by the loss of French rescue works arrive at a helicopter landing area after an avalanche in the French Alps near Chamonix, France, swept at least nine climbers to their deaths, Thursday, July 12, 2012. About 28 climbers from Switzerland, Germany, Spain, France, Denmark and Serbia were believed to be involved in the expedition caught in the avalanche, according to the local gendarme service and Danish Foreign Ministry. ((AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus))

Payne, one of Britain's most notable climbers, with expeditions from the Alps to the Himalayas. He and his wife, JulieAnn Clyma, were both internationally certified mountain guides, based in Leysin, Switzerland. "It's pretty shocking. I mean, the guiding community here is pretty tightknit probably about 400 guides in Chamonix. Everybody will have known somebody who was in the hut last night," said Stuart Macdonald, a British guide who directs Avalanche Academy Ltd. in Chamonix and knew Payne. "Everyone's really feeling it," McDonald said. The Mont Blanc massif is a popular area for climbers, hikers and tourists but a dangerous one, with dozens dying on it each year. Chamonix, a global epicenter for serious French rescuers arrive at a helicopter landing area after an avalanche in the French Alps near Chamonix, France, swept at least nine climbers to their deaths, Thursday, July 12, 2012. About 28 climbers from Switzerland, Germany, Spain, France, Denmark and Serbia were believed to be involved in the expedition caught in the avalanche, according to the local gendarme service and Danish Foreign Ministry. ((AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus))

alpine climbing, hosted the first Winter Olympics in 1924. to the avalanche, which hit a group of climbers who were some 13,100 feet (4,000 meters) high on the north face of Mont Maudit, part of the Mont Blanc range. It was apparently triggered by a climber accidentally breaking loose a 16inchthick block of ice that slid down the slope, unleashing the mass of snow, officials said. Witnesses said that "a climber could have set loose a sheet of ice, and that sheet then pulled down the group of climbers below. I should say the incline was very, very steep on this northern face," Col. Bertrand Francois of the HauteSavoie police told reporters. It was not immediately known if Rescue workers takeoff to fly to the avalanche site in Chamonix, French Alps, Thursday, July, 12, 2012. Two climbers were rescued and emergency crews are searching for the missing. A group of 28 climbers from Switzerland, Germany, Spain, France, Denmark and Serbia are believed to be in the expedition caught in the avalanche that was about 4,000 meters (13,1000 feet) high on the north face of Mont Maudit, part of the Mont Blanc range. ((AP Photo))

that climber was among the dead. According to tweets from those on the mountain, high winds led to overhanging ice slabs forming on the slope. Several days ago Chamonix saw a monsoonlike downpour, which turned to snow at an altitude of 9,850 feet (3,000 meters). "The problem is it's been pretty warm and it's been raining as well, so there was ice below," said Andersson, who has lived in the Chamonix area for three years. French Interior Minister Manuel Valls flew over the avalanche site, describing it as "a particularly spectacular block of ice." He said the climbers appeared to be an experienced group, and that the churnedup snow had made the search particularly difficult. Jonas Moestrup from the western Danish Map locates Mont Maudit in the French Alps (Map locates Mont Maudit in the French Alps)

\