Teenage French climbing prodigy Luce Douady was killed on Sunday when she fell on a footpath in a climbing area in the French Alps, the French Mountain Climbing Federation (FFME) and its club in Chambery said.
The 16-year-old reigning world junior champion fell 150m as she and a group of friends were crossing a tricky path equipped with a handrail between two climbing areas.
“Luce was a young athlete on the French climbing team, very promising,” the FFME said on its website. “Brilliant in competition.”
She was “a lover of all facets of climbing”, the FFME said, expressing the “immense sadness of the climbing community”.
Douady was seen as one of the brightest young talents in climbing, a sport which will be introduced to the Olympics in Tokyo next year.
The site listed her competitive achievements including winning the World Youth Bouldering Championship in 2019 in Arco, Italy, and fifth place in her first appearance on the senior circuit at the Bouldering World Cup in Vail, Colorado, the same year.
“This terrible news has hit her training partners, coaches and her club, Chambery Escalade, hard. But now the whole federation is in mourning,” the climbing federation said.
The Chambery club paid tribute on its Facebook page to a “young woman full of energy, passion and talent” who was “a beautiful person”.
ZeMisterPenguin on June 16th, 2020 at 15:17 UTC »
That’s terrifying. I can’t imagine the feeling and realization that you’re about to die and can’t do anything to stop it. Fuck
AlasterMyst on June 16th, 2020 at 14:45 UTC »
Not even while climbing, just wow. Shame the linked story doesn't include pictures of the path that was fallen from. It would help understanding what happened.
iamsecond on June 16th, 2020 at 14:09 UTC »
"The 16-year-old reigning world junior champion fell 150m as she and a group of friends were crossing a tricky path equipped with a handrail between two climbing areas."
Fell almost 500 feet. That's....wow.