Lafaille, 40, was attempting to climb the 8,463-meter Mt. Makalu peak in northern Nepal on his own but lost contact with the base camp Jan. 27.

"Lafaille, who has already scaled 14 peaks higher than 8,000 meters successfully, is out of contact since Jan. 27 after reaching a height of 7,600 meters on peak at Sankuwasabha district, some 300 km east of Kathmandu," the radio said.

He last spoke to his wife and manager Katie via satellite phone Jan. 26, when he was camped at an altitude of 7,600 meters on the eve of his bid for the summit of Makalu, reports said.

The climber's tent had been sighted by rescuers at an altitude of 6,700 meters.

"Missing Lafaille could not be found despite an extensive hunt carried out under the joint auspices of the French Embassy at Kathmandu and me," Mrs. Lafaille said at a press conference in Nepal on Monday."There is little hope of finding him alive."

Lafaille had begun to ascend the peak Jan. 24.

If successful, Lafaille would have been the first climber ever to successfully climb Makalu solo in winter.

Lafaille has made at least once dramatic reappearance in the past, when he was given up for dead on the south face of Mount Annapurna.

In 1992, he first began to scale the Himalayas with a climb on Annapurna with Pierre Beghin, who suffered a fatal accident at 7,000 meters. Lafaille descended alone and appeared five days later at base camp.

(Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencies)