TVMountain have uploaded a video of the search after the Tignes avalanche yesterday (1m50s into video). The glacier opened this weekend and on Sunday at 12h20 four local off piste skiers triggered an avalanche at 3650 meters altitude on the summit triangle of the Grande Motte.
One of the skiers was partially buried by the slide but had freed himself from the snow by the time the rescue services arrived. He and another skier lost their skis in the incident. It was a narrow escape. The avalanche, measuring 100x400 meters crossed the snow park, which was closed, and the aerosol and blast reached an open piste where it was reported there were a dozen skiers at the time. No-one was hurt but some skiers were knocked over by the blast. According to the director of piste services, Arnaud Trinquier, the avalanche debris was 30cm deep on the open run. Local reports claim depths of up to 250cm in the off-piste sector. Trinquier says the avalanche is characteristic of early season conditions where the "snowpack is made up of recent fresh snow which has not been transformed by wind or temperature changes".
40cm of fresh snow in the area accompanied by subzero temperatures and strong southerly winds have created conditions for unstable windslab on north sector slopes at altitude. The Chamonix based guides report similar conditions for the Mont Blanc range.