The second British climber who died in an accident in the French Alps alongside record-breaking climber Rob Gauntlett has been named.
The Foreign Office named him as James Atkinson, 21, from Sussex.
Rob Gauntlett, of Petworth, West Sussex, climbed Mount Everest when he was just 19 in 2006 and was highly regarded in the climbing world.
His mother Nicola Gauntlett said that the 21-year-old’s family were “just devastated”.
She said he and his as yet unnamed friend had been ice-climbing in Chamonix when there was a “big fall”.
Mr Gauntlett and his unnamed friend have been remembered at services at St Mary’s Church, Petworth.
The Very Reverend Michael Till, said: “We remembered him and them and the wonderful fact that young people put themselves at risk doing what they do.
“This is very tragic news but what a wonderful life he enjoyed, however short it turned out to be.”
Mrs Gauntlett said: “At the moment we don’t know exactly what happened but there was obviously a big fall and they both died. We’ve only just been told the news.”
She said they arrived in the region on 2 January and were due back in the UK on Wednesday.
Mrs Gauntlett added that she and her husband, David, would be travelling to France on Sunday.
She went on: “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 that he loved.”
‘Follow your dreams’
Mr Gauntlett and his friend James Hooper, of Somerset, became the youngest Britons to climb Everest in May 2006.
Speaking from the summit he had said: “James and I are really keen on getting the message out to young people to follow your dreams.
“This has been our dream for three years. Get out there, follow it up and make sure you make it happen.”
In November 2008 the pair were named National Geographic 2008 Adventurers of the Year at the society’s base in Washington DC.
The accolade was in recognition of a 22,000-mile journey using only human and natural power from the Magnetic North to the Magnetic South Poles to raise awareness of climate change.
During the expedition between the Earth’s magnetic poles, Mr Hooper and Mr Gauntlett skied, used dog-sleighs, sailed and cycled through Greenland, USA, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and Argentina.
The former pupils of Christ’s Hospital in Horsham, West Sussex, then sailed to New York to begin the 11,000-mile cycle ride to Punta Arenas, Chile.
After completing the trip from the North to the South Poles in April the pair sailed 1,800 nautical miles to Australia.
Their expedition also helped to raise money for the Prince’s Trust.
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