Avalanches Claim Fifth Victim

Late on Tuesday night friends of Raphael Potin began to worry about his whereabouts. After a tour of the bars of Val d’Isère they alerted the Gendarmes. The 36 year old, former ski instructor with the UCPA and currently working for the Misty Fly Snowboard School had last been seen by a friend on the north face of the Bellevarde early in the afternoon.

skier ducking ropes
Skiers today

The pair had set out for a day’s snowboarding but had separated. M. Potin gave his itinerary to his friend. He intended to surf the couloir de la Table in the direction of la Daille.

The rescue operation involved members of the piste patrol, fire brigade and the local Gendarmerie. Investigating a large slide they quickly picked up the signal from M. Potin’s avalanche beacon. His body was found just under the surface of the slide in woods. He had been carried 300 meters by the avalanche.

Posted by davidof on Thursday, 27 January, 2005 at 09:24 AM