FRENCH PRO SKIER JULIETTE WILLMANN, 29, DIES AFTER AVALANCHE SWEEPS HER 1,300 FEET DOWN MOUNTAIN IN ARGENTINA

French professional freeride skier Juliette Willmann, 29, has died after an avalanche swept her and her husband hundreds of metres down a mountain in Argentina’s Patagonia.

The tragedy happened on Tuesday, September 29, on Cerro Crestón, near the mountain town of El Chaltén in Santa Cruz province.

Willmann and her husband, French mountain guide Pierre-Idris Mehdi, 30, were ski touring in the area when a slab of snow broke loose at around 12:30 p.m.

The avalanche dragged the couple approximately 400 metres — about 1,300 feet — down the mountain.

RESCUERS RUSHED TO THE REMOTE MOUNTAIN

A distress alert was raised after the avalanche, triggering a major rescue response.

Other skiers in the area were among the first to reach the couple and began searching through the snow before official rescue teams arrived.

Willmann was found buried approximately 1.5 metres, or around five feet, beneath the snow and had no vital signs.

A doctor at a medical post in El Chaltén guided CPR attempts by radio, but the efforts were unsuccessful. Her death was later confirmed by rescuers.

Mehdi was found alive and conscious. He was subsequently evacuated for medical treatment and was reported to be out of danger. Argentine authorities said the avalanche appeared to have resulted from a snow-slab failure.

The rescue operation involved personnel from National Parks, Argentina’s National Gendarmerie, Civil Defence, medical services and specialist mountain-rescue teams.

Because of the remote terrain, rescuers had to travel to the area near Lago del Desierto before continuing on foot through difficult mountain conditions.

A SKIER WHO STARTED AT JUST TWO YEARS OLD

Willmann was born in Marseille, France, and grew up in the French Alps in a family closely connected to skiing.

She began skiing when she was just two years old.

Her father was a ski coach, her mother was a ski instructor, and her older sister competed for the French alpine skiing team.

Willmann initially pursued competitive alpine skiing before turning toward freeride skiing and ski mountaineering.

She qualified for the Freeride World Tour in 2019 and competed internationally through 2022. She later focused increasingly on steep, high-mountain skiing and filmmaking.

Her sporting interests also extended beyond skiing, including judo, running, mountain biking and rugby.

HER FINAL ADVENTURE IN PATAGONIA

Willmann and Mehdi had been travelling through Patagonia in the days before the fatal avalanche, documenting their mountain adventures online.

Shortly before her death, Willmann shared photographs from an expedition to Cerro Madsen, another mountain near El Chaltén.

She described the experience with words that would become particularly poignant after the tragedy:

“We feel so lucky to be here, in the mountains of Patagonia, exploring this amazing place.”

She added that their South American journey continued to amaze them.

The couple’s trip had included ski touring and high-mountain adventures across the region.

SHE ONCE SPOKE ABOUT THE POWER OF THE MOUNTAINS

Willmann had previously spoken publicly about the risks involved in high-mountain skiing.

In a 2024 documentary, she said:

“In the mountains you are vulnerable. The mountains decide and you have to listen to them, you have to respect them.”

She also acknowledged the importance of experience while describing herself as still learning and developing in the mountains.

Her career had taken her into some of the world’s most demanding environments, including Nepal’s Dhaulagiri region, where she skied at extreme altitude in 2024.

TRIBUTES FOLLOW HER DEATH

News of Willmann’s death has prompted tributes from people across the international freeride communi