Snowshoer killed by avalanche in the Jura

A Swiss snowshoer has been killed by an avalanche in the French Jura at 15h00, the slide seriously injured his wife. The avalanche occurred near the ski resort of the col de la Faucille on steep slopes under the Petit Montrond at around 1200 meters. The couple were apparently following the steep vie de Chaux trail in the wooded Pailly sector. It appears the man was killed instantly after colliding with a tree.

mont rond, jura
Jura from the Petit Montrond(archive photo)

There has been considerable snowfall over the last week with around a meter of snow on the Jura. This fresh snow is lying on older, weak layers and has been accompanied by strong winds from the south. Meteo France has an “orange” avalanche alert for four departments: Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, the Hautes-Alpes, the Alpes-Maritimes and the Savoie. Their is a risk of slides hitting roads and buildings.

A British snowboarder suffered serious injuries to his back and hip yesterday in an avalanche at la Plagne. The incident happened at 14h00 in the Couloir Rosset in the Roche de Mio sector at 2300 meters. He was part of a group of four boarders in the couloir. The other three were able to escape the path of the slide. Two ski tourers were involved in an avalanche on the Puy Barbier in the Massif Central yesterday. One of the skiers was able to free himself and then rescue his partner who was buried just under the surface of the snow. Another snowshoer has been killed by a train near to the Pont de Beauvoisin in the Savoie this afternoon. Heavy snowfall has also blocked the A75 highway in the Massif Central.

Posted by davidof on Sunday, 14 December, 2008 at 07:36 PM

Does anyone know when the last fatality occurred in the Jura? I live at the foot of this mountain for 28 years now, and have never heard of this....

Posted by on Monday, 15 December, 2008 at 09:42 AM

There is nothing in the Pistehors database since 2002 and nothing on the SLF website either (http://www.slf.ch). There seem to be more avalanches involving skiers/snow shoers in the Vosges.

I was hit by a small avalanche on the West side of the Reculet in 2003 (windslab). You will probably also remember there was a big slide on the east side of the Reculet in the 1980s which reached the transversal forest road.

Posted by davidof on Monday, 15 December, 2008 at 10:26 AM

It was a deadly weekend in the lower 48 too. A girl was killed by a slide in bounds at Snowbird (http://www.sltrib.com/ci_11232264) and a man was killed just outside the boundaries in Aspen (http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20081215/NEWS/812159873/1077%20ParentProfile=1058%20title=Man%20found%20dead%20after%20avalanche%20on%20Aspen%20Mountain)

All the new snow seems to have gotten people very excited, which is often a problem.

Posted by Dongshow on Tuesday, 16 December, 2008 at 02:16 AM