Two British climbers who died in bad weather in the Alps are named

The Matterhorn: The two men were trapped after a spate of bad weather
AFP/Getty Images
Chloe Chaplain7 August 2016

The two British climbers who died after being trapped in bad weather in the Alps have been named as Peter Rumble and Dennis Robinson.

The bodies of the pair, both in their 60s, were found on rocks buried in snow on the Matterhorn.

The men sent out an alert on Friday when they got caught on the mountain as storms came in and temperatures plummeted.

But despite desperate efforts, rescuers were unable to reach them because of high winds.

The Matterhorn: The route is a common climbing route from the south 
Press

The bodies were finally located and helicoptered off the mountain on Saturday morning.

The man said the pair had been climbing the 4,478m (14,691ft) mountain, which straddles the border between Switzerland and Italy, from the Italian side and were on the Cresta del Leone, a rocky ridge and the regular route up from the south.

A member of the Italian mountain rescue team from Cervinia suggested the pair were caught out by a change in the weather.

He said: "We have had a rapid change in the weather. On Thursday afternoon and overnight into Friday we had a lot of storms with snows in the high altitudes, and rapid falls in temperature."

He also said there were two Russian climbers stranded on the mountain due to the bad weather who have been there for a longer period of time.

He suggests they may have been better equipped than the British pair, adding: "Perhaps with the right equipment it is possible to survive on the Matterhorn."

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We can confirm the death of two British nationals in Mount Cervino (the Matterhorn), Italy and we are in touch with local authorities."

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