The body of Francis Borredon, reported missing since the 20th of January, was found on Friday morning by a team of Mountain Police. The man was last seen on the slopes of the Grand Colon in the Belledonne range of mountains. The 2,600-meter Grand Colon is a favourite mountain with Grenoble based ski tourists.
Francis Borredon, a flute maker living in Meylan, was climbing in bad weather, on his own and without an avalanche transceiver when he was seen by a party of skiers around 14h30 close to a small refuge at the base of the mountain. The witnesses described how they saw him climbing an exposed part of the route before disappearing behind a ridge. Despite a massive search by Mountain Police (PGHM) in poor weather conditions no trace was found of the man. Heavy snowfalls restricted the activities of skiers on the route.
In the last few days’ searchers had taken advantage of the spring weather and retreating snow to restart their search. Gloves and a skier, which were later confirmed as belonging to the missing man, enabled them to localise the area to search. The body was found in a couloir joining the normal route to the summit. It is believed he either slipped or was caught by an avalanche.
Mr Borrendon’s closed and shuttered flute shop is just across the road from my parents-in-law in Grenoble. It remains a sad reminder of this tragic event.
Francis was not a flute maker but a luthier making violins, violas and celli.