Lucinda Hutchins, 21, last heard from her "soulmate" Rob Gauntlett two days before he set off on his fateful ice climbing holiday with three friends.

The four adventurers had travelled to France on January 2 and were due back in the UK tomorrow (Wednesday, January 14).

Now, however, arrangements are being made to return the friends' bodies home, expected at the end of the week or early next week.

Mr Gauntlett, also 21 from Petworth, sent her a text message telling her he would not be able to gain a signal for three days but that he would be thinking about her.

Last night she said: "I texted him back and told him to please be safe, not to push himself too hard and that there were people here who really care for him.

"He texted back, 'See you soon. I love you'. That was the last I heard from him."

Mr Gauntlett and James Atkinson, 21, from Wisborough Green, plunged to their deaths while climbing at the weekend in the Chamonix region on a route on the east face of Mont Blanc.

Ms Hutchins, a student at Manchester University studying psychology and English, said she was told the tragic news in a phone call from Mr Gauntlett's father, David, on Saturday night.

She said: "Rob's dad phoned me and he was struggling to get his words out. He was really devastated. He told me what happened and now my whole world has fallen apart.

"I'm still trying to get my head around it myself and I'm still coming to terms with it."

Ms Hutchins said she and Mr Gauntlett had known each other since the age of 11 and became partners at the age of 16 while pupils at independent Christ's Hospital School in Horsham.

She said: "He and I were like soulmates.

"I have never met anyone who I have got on with so well and been so compatible with.

"Very early on in our relationship we spoke about all kinds of things for the future. We did have long term plans together.

"This is what makes it all the more harder to take because I've now got to face the future alone, although I've got the support of my family and Rob's."

Ms Hutchins also revealed how they shared a meal at his parents' large country house in Petworth on New Year's Eve before he set off on his latest adventure.

"He told me to let's make it a great 2009," she said.

Speaking of her concerns about his dangerous exploits, she said: "I have been with him ever since his first expedition so I'm well aware of the dangers that he faces and have always been concerned about it.

"Despite it being meant as a holiday, I still understood that it could be dangerous. I was always worried and I would say to him, 'Please, please be safe'.

"When he was away, his safety would always be at the back of my mind. But I have never tried to talk him out of doing something because to do that would be to take away a part of him.

"His life wouldn't have been so fulfilled if he hadn't been able to go out and do these things. He was someone who was literally following his dreams."

The holiday was the first that Mr Gauntlett, his record-breaking climbing partner James Hooper, Mr Atkinson and Richard Lebon had been on together.

She said: "Rob was really excited."

Ms Hutchins also heaped praise on Durham University student Mr Atkinson, saying he was a long-standing friend of them all and active in outdoor pursuits.

Mr Gauntlett entered the record books in 2006 when he became the youngest Briton to reach the summit of Everest with Mr Hooper.
Tributes have poured in for Mr Atkinson and Mr Gauntlett. David Beckham, who filmed a television advert with Mr Gauntlett and Mr Hooper, was said to be sad to hear the news.

Mr Hooper said he bade a final farewell to his friends in the Alps as he begins to travel home today. He said Mr Gauntlett's parents were heading home last night.

Speaking from Chamonix, Mr Hooper, from Wellington, Somerset, said yesterday: "We've just picked up their possessions and have said our goodbyes to the boys."

The headmaster at the climbers' former school said Mr Gauntlett and Mr Atkinson were hugely determined and passionate about climbing.

John Franklin, of Christ's Hospital School, said: "Their deaths come as a terrible blow to us all and the only faint consolation is that they died in the mountains doing what they loved best."

To leave your tributes to Rob leave your comments below, email the newsroom at news@chiobserver.co.uk or ring reporter Jenny Mouland on 07801 195 419.

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