An experienced Sussex climber has frozen to death in the Italian Alps.

Pensioner Reg Clarke, who was a member of East Grinstead Climbing Club, died alongside his Dutch companion after becoming stranded in a blizzard on the Monte Rosa mountain range in the Aosta region.

The bodies of the 70-year-old and his friend, named as Johannes Ruiter, 47, were found huddled together by an alpine guide on Saturday morning more than 12,000ft above sea level and only 500m from a shelter.

Friends said Mr Clarke, who was from Horsham, was an experienced climber and had carried out a similar expedition of the mountain range last year.

Climber Trevor Clarke, who is not a relation, told a national newspaper: “It is very sad.

“This accident must have been a pure mishap.

“Reg was so experienced he would not have knowingly put his life in danger. The weather probably overtook them.

“He had been climbing for a long time. He had skill and experience by the bucketload. He was a cut above the norm.”

It is believed Mr Clarke and Mr Ruiter, who had climbed together on numerous occasions, arrived at the base of the range on Thursday and started their climb at 8am on Friday.

They were aiming to reach the Capanna Margherita refuge, the highest in Europe at 14,940ft above sea level.

However, a storm blew in and temperatures dropped to as low as -15C (5F).

Monte Rosa is said to host impressive ridges but can be dangerous for even the most experienced climbers because of sudden weather changes and crevasses in its glaciers.

Writing on the climbing club’s website about climbing the Lyskamm traverse on Monte Rosa in the summer of 2006, Mr Clarke described the trip as “a truly superb holiday”.

The deaths of the pair are the third and fourth on Mount Rosa within a week.

A German and an Italian climber lost their lives in the treacherous conditions.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: “We know that Mr Clarke’s body was found in the Alps on Saturday and that his next of kin have been informed.

“We are offering consular assistance to his family but we are not making any comment on the repatriation of his body.”

Mr Clarke was a former teacher and Scout leader. He was married and had a son.

Leave your tributes to Mr Clarke below.