RESCUERS find bodies of three climbers, missing skier on France's Mont Blanc

CHAMONIX, France (AP) _ Three French climbers were found dead near the summit of Mont Blanc over the weekend. Mountain rescuers were searching for a fourth climber. <br><br>Rescuers also found the body

Monday, July 9th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

CHAMONIX, France (AP) _ Three French climbers were found dead near the summit of Mont Blanc over the weekend. Mountain rescuers were searching for a fourth climber.

Rescuers also found the body of a skier who had been missing since March. He was identified as Alexandre Faucoloff.

The French climbers, ages 50 to 63, ran into bad weather Friday as they tried to make their way to the top of Mont Blanc, the highest peak in Western Europe.

A mountain guide on the team managed to alert rescuers by radio, but bad weather hampered the rescue, mountain police said.

Rescuers found two bodies at 13,200 feet after the storm lifted, and discovered a third on Sunday, police said. The search continued for the fourth climber.

Elsewhere in the Alps, a French climbing couple fell to their deaths Sunday morning, officials said. They apparently failed to pick in properly to the side of the Massif de l'Oisans mountain, some 40 miles southwest of Mont Blanc, authorities said.