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Jane Jerram was an elite academic and an experienced climber and it was completely out of character for the Kiwi to be caught unprepared.
But as a storm enveloped her and her climbing companions in the French Alps, they had no tent or any equipment to dig a cave for protection.
The party - Ms Jerram, 26, her English boyfriend Mark Emerson and two students from Chile and France - froze to death as rescuers desperately tried to reach them.
As her grieving family - sister Pip, brother Tom and parents Peter and Ally - are on their way to France today, fresh details have emerged of the ill-fated trip.
The four died about 4000m up Mt Blanc - 800m from the summit - in plummeting temperatures and 130km/h winds, conditions that prevented a rescue helicopter from taking off.
But in a dramatic rescue attempt, rescuers came within 200m of the group before having to retreat because of the storm.
Stephane Bozon, captain of the High Mountain Gendarmerie in Chamonix, said the group were found on Tuesday afternoon, local time.
A rescue worker told reporters: "At 4.30am Tuesday, [we] received another call from the French female member of the group. Their situation was desperate. We could hear for ourselves the agony these people were in."
Ms Jerram's uncle, Jim Jerram, said he believed the group were lightly equipped for a speedy ascent.
"But the weather overtook them faster than it was predicted. Certainly it was a tragedy and they paid the ultimate price. It's out of character from someone renowned for her meticulousness. She grew up in the Southern Alps and knew about the weather and looking after herself.
"We're devastated. Jane was an exceptional person, the most humane, empathetic and compassionate person as well as being multi-talented in music, theatre and sport. It's a huge loss."
Ms Jerram grew up in Blenheim and attended Marlborough Girls' College - where her mother teaches - finishing as dux of the school in 1998.
She had been studying at the Ecole Nationale Superieure d'Hydraulique et de Mecanique de Grenoble. She was also a soprano in the Stravaganza choir in Grenoble.
Marlborough Girls' principal Karen Stewart said many teachers remembered the former dux fondly.
"The contact has always been through her Mum, so the staff knew her well. It was a total shock that she passed away. She was an outstanding student. She was very popular, academically very gifted. In her final year she was first in every subject she was studying, and she won a raft of awards. She was a gifted singer."
Ms Jerram studied civil engineering at Canterbury University. George Mullenger, a senior lecturer at Canterbury who often ran into Ms Jerram at the theatre, said she was a capable student and a "fine young person".
She earned a research scholarship in 2003 from the NZ Society for Earthquake Engineering, and gained a masters degree from L'Enshmg engineering college in Grenoble.
The French Government then offered her funding to do a civil engineering doctorate, which she was due to complete by the end of the year.
Ms Jerram and Mr Emerson planned to set up home in Christchurch.
