Fatal Avalanche in the Oisans

A man has been killed and a woman left seriously injured today after being caught by an avalanche in the Oisans mountain range. The pair were snowshoeing on the glacier des Sellettes to the south of the Aigulle de l’Olan.

An eyewitness rushed to the the refuge de la Lavey situated at 1797 meters and about 2.5km from the glacier. The alert was given shortly before 16h00 and the CRS des Alpes arrived at the scene from their base at Briançon.

It appears that the couple were descending the south and east facing glacier, situated between 2300 and 2800 meters when they triggered the slide, sometime in the mid-afternoon. The avalanche carried them over a 200 meter rock face. The woman was suffering from multiple injuries and hypothermia but was conscious when the rescue services arrived. The man’s body was found deeply buried under the avalanche debris.

Posted by on Friday, 20 May, 2005 at 08:24 PM