An English climber on Sunday found the bodies of six mountaineers in the French Alps who appeared to have died after a fall caused by an avalanche of snow and stones, officials said.

The bodies found on Neige Cordier summit at 2,700 metres (8,850 feet) were taken by helicopter to the nearby village of Villar d'Arene, village mayor Xavier Cret told AFP.

"The victims were climbing roped together in two groups. It looks like there was a slide of snow and stones mixed together," he said, adding that it appeared that they had died on Saturday after a fall of around 200 metres.

Officials did not state the nationality of the dead climbers.

The English hiker stumbled across the bodies as he was taking the same route that they had taken a day before, mountain rescue police said.