Tributes were paid last night to two British climbers, one of them the youngest Briton to conquer Everest, who fell hundreds of feet to their deaths in the Alps.

The bodies of Rob Gauntlett and James Atkinson, both 21 and from Sussex, were found in a couloir — a steep gulley – on Mont Blanc du Tacul, near Chamonix. They had been ice climbing on the east Gervasutti route of the 15,700ft (4,360m) mountain on Saturday. It remains unclear how they died because weather conditions were not extreme, there were no reports of avalanches and both were well equipped.

In 2006, at the age of 19, Mr Gauntlett became the youngest Briton to climb Everest with a schoolfriend, James Hooper, also 19. Speaking from Chamonix, Mr Hooper, who was on the trip with the two men who died and a fourth mountaineer, said that Mr Gauntlett’s death had devastated him.

“Rob and I have been best friends since we were 15, and so we obviously knew each other really well,” he said. “He was practically a brother to me. I’m obviously devastated, but I’m just trying to remember the fact that he was a wonderful person and he inspired me and others in so many different ways.”

Mr Hooper, from Wellington, Somerset, described Mr Gauntlett as being driven to get the most out of life and have the best experiences.

As the two most experienced mountaineers, he and Mr Gauntlett split up, taking their less experienced friends. “Rob and James went off to do a route and my friend and I looked at a route, but didn’t like the look of the weather, so we decided not to.

“Then the weather suddenly cleared up, but by that time it was too late for us to start our route and we decided to come down. Rob and James stayed up there and they were trying to do a big route yesterday morning and fell.

“It was only because he was such a motivated and driven person that the accident happened, but those were the qualities that made him so incredible.”

He added that Mr Atkinson, a Durham University student, was a “top guy” with a passion for outdoor sports.

Mr Gauntlett’s parents have flown to France to recover their son’s body. Speaking from the family home in Petworth, West Sussex, his mother, Nicola, said: “At the moment we don’t know exactly what happened, but there was obviously a big fall and they both died. We are all just devastated. He’s far too young to die. We had spoken about something like this happening only recently.” The only consolation was that he died while “doing something that he loved”, she said.

Four people have died on the Mont Blanc massif already this season.

Mr Gauntlett’s website explains how his passion for adventure was kindled while a pupil at Christ’s Hospital, a private school in Horsham, West Sussex, where he and Mr Hooper set their hearts on climbing Everest as GCSE pupils. When not climbing, Mr Gauntlett worked as a motivational speaker.

In March 2007 he and Mr Hooper travelled from the north to the south magnetic pole using entirely human and natural power, a 26,000-mile journey that took them 13 months.

During their Everest climb, the pair struggled with illness and weight loss and had to brave severe storms.

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