Dutch woman killed by avalanche

An off-piste snowboarder has been killed by an avalanche in the ski resort of le Corbier today. The accident occured at 1900 meters just before 11h00. With a further 15-20cm of snow overnight accompanied by strong winds Meteo France had warned of snow slabs many slope aspect with the avalanche risk at high (4/5) in the area.

The victim, a 21 year old woman from Holland who was skiing in a group of four, was not wearing an avalanche beacon. Her three friends escaped without injury and gave the alert. A team of fifty including piste patrollers from the resort, an avalanche dog and specialist police units from the CRS brought by helicopter from Courchevel were involved in the search. The victim was found after 90 minutes buried under a meter of snow. This is the second avalanche in the resort this season.

Another snowboarder was seriously injured at les Deux Alpes off-piste in the Bellecombe sector this morning. The slide occured at 2100 meters on a very steep slope. The skier was carried some 200 meters including a cliff band. The piste-patrol, who had observed the slide, were able to locate the snowboarder due to an arm sticking out of the avalanche debris.

A skier also triggered a slide at Val-Cenis but was rescued by members of the piste patrol without serious injury.

Posted by on Monday, 20 February, 2006 at 08:19 PM