Avalanche at Val d’Isère

A family group with a ski instructor have been caught by an avalanche off piste in Val d’Isère. One of the group, a 21 year old man, was taken by helicopter to Grenoble in a critical conditions.

The group were skiing at around 10h30 at 2850 meters altitude on a north facing slope in the Solaise sector. The victim was buried for over half an hour under three meters of snow. All members of the group were equipped with avalanche beacons. The avalanche risk was Moderate (2/3) moving to Considerable (3/5) during the early part of the day.

Members of the website Camp2Camp have reported a large avalanche on Mt Charvin at 11h20 this morning. The accident occured in one of the aiguilles du Mont and took the whole face. Three skiers escaped the slide above but a ski has been spotted on the surface of the debris.

A roof avalanche has badly damaged a chalet in Isola 2000 in the Alpes Maritimes. Six Dutch tourists had to be rehoused during the middle of the night. The route to Isola was closed on Thursday after fresh slides.