Updated

A British mountaineer fell to his death Saturday while climbing on a popular access route to France's Mont Blanc known as the Gouter corridor, police said.

The climber, aged about 30, "probably lost his balance" and fell while he was with four friends in an especially dangerous area dubbed the "corridor of death" because of frequent rock falls, the police said.

Earlier this month an 80-year-old Brazilian climber died in a fall in the same area.