Second avalanche of the season in the Savoie and it is not even November. Two climbers were ascending above the glacier du Génépy in the commune of Pralognan-la-Vanoise yesterday (26th October). They were just below the summit ridge at 3500 meters when they triggered a slab.
Caught in the middle of the slide they were carried down slope but not buried and suffered only mild injuries. Facial cuts for one and a sprained knee for the other. The rescue services, in the form of the CRS based in Modane, came to the scene by helicopter and transported the climber with a knee injury to hospital in Moutiers.
The incident occurred around 14h00. The avalanche was 100 meters wide and ran for 250 meters. The police estimated the slope at around 45°. The climbers were local to Bozel and Saint-Martin-de-Belleville. The debris was two meters deep in places and the rescue services say the climbers were lucky not to have been buried.