Four skiers have died in avalanches since the weekend in separate incidents.

On Sunday an off piste skier was killed in the Lanières sector of the Mourtis ski resort. A Spaniard was killed on Tuesday (2/2/2010) by an avalanche close to the col de Portalet (Atlantic Pyrenees) while ski touring with two friends who were on snowshoes. One of the friends was also caught by the slide. In the Isere a ski tourer and a snowboard tourer were lucky to escape with just broken hips in separate incidents.

In the Chartreuse a ski tourer was killed by an avalanche after being swept 500 meters over cliffs yesterday. 32 year old Olivier Cordeuil, a resident of le Sappey in Chartreuse, was descending the steep east facing Dalles route of the 1867 meter Charmant Som when he was hit by a slide. The avalanche risk was 2 (moderate) below 1800 meters, 3 (considerable) above.

Dalles route of the Charmant Som

Olivier Cordeuil was an experienced ski mountaineer and well known locally. His body was found during the night by a ground based search by the CRS des Alpes from Grenoble who had been alerted when Olivier failed to return home.

Another ski tourer has also been killed by an avalanche at la Vigerie close to Murat in the Monts du Cantal in the Massif Central region today. The alert was given by his ski partner around 14h30 who witnessed the slide. The 65 year old victim was found by rescue workers at 16h00 and died shortly afterwards.

http://pistehors.com/news/forums/viewthread/486/

And another. A 46 year old female climber has been killed in the Hautes-Alpes. The woman was with a guide climbing an ice fall the Ceillac area.

The Cantal avalanche was on the Peyre Arse. There was another avalanche on Wednesday, again on an east facing slope, on the Puy Mary.

A bit more information on the Ceillac avalanche. It was on the Vermicelle, the victim was recovered in a state of cardiovascular arrest rescue workers practised heart massage for 90 minutes in vain.

Update: a 46 year old lady. She was partly buried by a purge on the route and while her companions were trying to dig her out a secondary avalanche occured. She may have been killed by the impact of snow and ice rather than suffocation.

An off piste skier has been killed by an avalanche in the Foux d’Allos in the Southern Alps. The off piste in the resort is quite avalanche prone and has been the scene of a number of incidents.

Read your reports with interest. I’m a first time visitor to Courchevel 1850, arriving next week for a ski holiday. I am a novice/intermediate skier and am concerned about safety. Any tips please? Thank you for your time.

Samantha, these accidents are occuring off piste. I am presuming, as you state that you are a beginner/intermediate, that you will be skiing on piste in Courcheval. The people who look after the pistes also look after your safety and are unlikely to open a piste that is in any danger of avalanche risk from above. Look out for information in the resort and enjoy your holiday.

Thank you. I appreciate your reply. We look forward to our holiday!

As Dazzler says, all the last week’s incidents, both in France, Switzerland and Austria are away from ski runs, sometimes a long long way. A big resort like Courchevel has very good avalanche control procedures in place and a very good safety record. Courchevel 1850 is full of Russian gangsters who take their holiday safety very seriously.

Have a good holiday.

A bit more information on the Foux d’Allos slide today:

The slide occured off piste near the Signal drag lift around 11h00. The skiers, a group of five, were local to the area. Three were caught by the avalanche with one buried. He could not be revived by rescuers in what was, according to the head of piste security, a very difficult area to access. He was a 26 year old man. The avalanche risk was 4.

Isola 2000
A 26 year old is missing at Isola 2000 after skiing off piste with a friend. One of the rescue workers involved in the search has been injured by a small avalanche.

Serre Chevalier
A ski instructor escaped without injury after an avalanche off piste in the Serre Chevalier ski area. He was rescued by his ski partners after being buried for around 10 minutes. The authorities have called for “prudence” on Sunday at the start of the winter holiday period.

Not sure I’m looking forward to hanging out with RG’s!

Nice matin has some more information on the Southern Alps incidents:

http://www.nicematin.com/ra/cotedazur/239135/alpes-maritimes-le-hors-piste-a-tue-hier-a-isola-2000-et-a-la-foux-d-allos

At la Foux the group were trying to regain the ski runs after realizing the off piste in the vallon des Ponchus they were on was dangerous. 50 rescue workers were involved in a difficult operation. They were assisted by avalanche dogs and two helicopters. The snow was described as extremely heavy which made it hard for the dogs to pick up a scent. of the three people taken by the slide, all local to the region, one was found buried up to his waist, a second, the only one wearing an avalanche beacon was located thanks to the signals from this device. A third man, aged 25 was finally recovered under 2 meters of snow, a medecin was unable to revive him.

The missing snowboarder at Isola 2000 was found dead under a meter of snow yesterday evening.

Updated the Avalanche Incident velocity diagram, as you can see quite a bad week for France (as elsewhere)

Ceillac

I will have to update the chart again. A 63 yr old snowshoer has been killed in the Queyras in the Hautes Alpes on Sunday. The man was snowshoeing alone when he triggered a slide at 2300 meters altitude near Ceillac. The alert as raised at 21h00 when he failed to return home and he was found in a bowl during a search this morning.

Tignes
At Tignes a 44 year old skier fell through a corniche on a ridge yesterday in the Roc de Tovière sector. He fell 20 meters onto teh slope below which triggered an avalanche, he was then carried a further 500 meters by the slide. He managed to activate his ABS system. He suffered from cuts and bruising to his thigh.

We seem to be about 2 weeks ahead of schedule

if things carry on like this we will finish the season with 35-40 avalanche deaths.

The site http://brianconescalade.free.fr/ has some more information about the Ceillac avalanche which killed a snowshoer. The avalanche occured between the cols Fromage and Estronques. The thin slab had taken an old layer of snow, without cohesion, down to ground level. The slide was on a south-west face.