A French doctor renowned for treating mountaineers has died in an avalanche in the French Alps.

The body of Dr Emmanuel Cauchy has been identified by Chamonix's mountain guides services after the incident in Aiguilles Rouges, near Chamonix and across from the Mont Blanc Massif.

Four skiers - one woman and three men - are in hospital after being rescued by dogs and a helicopter in the region's latest snowslide on Monday.

Dr Cauchy was well-known for treating injured mountaineers, including French climber Elisabeth Revol who survived a storm in the Himalayas in January which killed her Polish climbing partner.

Known as "Doctor Vertical", he was a frostbite expert and founded the Ifremmont training institute to teach mountain emergency doctors and share his expertise.


The 58-year-old was also an experienced mountain guide, an officer from the Chamonix mountain guides service said.

Image: Dr Cauchy conducting altitude sickness tests in 2013

Ludovic Giamiasi, a climber who planned Ms Revol's Himalayan route, expressed "immense sadness" at the news of Dr Cauchy's death.

"Another great man that the mountain has taken from us," he said from Nepal.

The area where the avalanche happened was at risk level three on a five-point scale, meaning there was a considerable risk of a snowslide.

The nationalities and ages of those injured have not been released.

A search for any others caught in the falling snow was called off on Monday afternoon as all skiers were accounted for.

More than a dozen people have been killed by avalanches in the French Alps this year.

On Saturday three Spanish cross-country skiers died in an avalanche in the Swiss Alps in the canton of Valais as they headed for the Fiescheralp area.

Two others were located via their detection devices and were airlifted to hospital.

However, the operation had to be halted overnight before rescuers recovered the three bodies on Sunday.

Every year between 500 and 1,500 avalanches are recorded in the French Alps.