French Pro Freeride Skier Dies in Avalanche Near El Chaltén, Argentina

Juliette Willmann, a 29-year-old French freeride and ski mountaineering athlete, died on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, after being caught in an avalanche on Cerro Crestón near El Chaltén, Argentina. Willmann was ski touring with her husband, Pierre-Idris Mehdi, 30, near the southern end of Lago del Desierto when the avalanche struck at approximately 12:30 p.m. local time. Mehdi was also caught in the slide and was rescued alive with injuries.

According to Argentina’s Ministry of Security, the avalanche was caused by a slab failure in the snowpack. The incident occurred roughly 35 kilometers (22 miles) from El Chaltén in a remote section of the Patagonian Andes.



A major rescue operation was launched after authorities were alerted to the avalanche. Personnel from Argentina’s National Parks, National Gendarmerie, Provincial Agrarian Council, Civil Defense, medical services, and specialized mountain rescue teams took part in the response. The Grupo Especializado en Alta Montaña (GEAM) of Gendarmería’s Calafate squadron worked alongside the Comisión de Auxilio El Chaltén. Rescuers traveled approximately 35 kilometers (22 miles) from El Chaltén toward Lago del Desierto before continuing on foot through steep and difficult mountain terrain. After several hours of searching, they reached the victims at approximately 4:58 p.m. and confirmed Willmann had died. Willmann’s body was carried out on a Lecco Kong rescue litter to Provincial Route 41 before being transported by vehicle to El Chaltén, arriving at approximately 7:55 p.m. Mehdi was evacuated alive for medical treatment.

The exact circumstances surrounding the avalanche remain under investigation.



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Willmann was born in Marseille and grew up in Barcelonnette in France’s Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. She came from a family of skiers. Her father was a ski coach, her mother a ski instructor, and her older sister competed for the French alpine skiing team. She began skiing at just two years old and trained with a ski club from ages five to 17. She initially pursued competitive alpine skiing before moving into freeride while studying economics in Aix-en-Provence.



Willmann eventually moved to Chamonix, where she lived for eight years, and qualified for the Freeride World Tour in 2019. She competed on the international circuit through 2022 before shifting her focus toward high-mountain skiing and filmmaking. Her film RISE with Juliette Willmann documented her transition away from competition and toward big-mountain skiing. The 2023 film followed Willmann as she pursued high peaks, steep skiing, and the process of learning in the mountains. She was also passionate about sports beyond skiing, including judo, running, mountain biking, and rugby.



Related: 2023 Freeride World Tour Champion Crowned



Her passion for the mountains had taken the athlete across the globe, traveling to  Nepal’s Dhaulagiri region in 2024, where she and her partners based themselves at approximately 5,100 meters (16,700 feet) and skied at around 6,000 meters (19,700 feet). This year, Willmann and Mehdi had been traveling through Patagonia in the days leading up to the fatal avalanche, sharing images from their ski missions in the region. One of their outings took them to Cerro Madsen near El Chaltén. The day began with an approximately 10-kilometer (6-mile) approach to the snow line before weather conditions improved enough for the pair to continue to the summit and ski back down. “We feel so lucky to be here, in the mountains of Patagonia, exploring this amazing place,” Willmann wrote alongside photos from the outing on her Instagram page. “This trip in South America keeps blowing our mind,” she added.

Tragically, the South America trip ended with this devastating tragedy and the loss of an incredible freeskiing athlete.





 





















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