1 dead 5 missing in Val d’Isère Avalanche

A search for five missing skiers from the Lyon in France will resume tomorrow in the Manchet valley in a zone at 2,100 meters altitude after the body of one of the missing had been located at nightfall.

The skiers had set out on Monday and had been reported missing during Tuesday when they failed to arrive at their jobs. The four men and two women, were said to be good skiers but with little off-piste experience and not carrying basic safety equipment although each had a mobile phone. Three of the skiers were members of the same family.

According to the ski hire shop they’d hired equipment suitable for off-piste skiing and the team comprised four skiers, a snowboarder and a mono-skier.

Jean-Lou Costerg, the piste director reported that the group had crossed out of the secured domain at the top of a drag lift to attempt the popular Tour du Charvet. Last night avalanche debris in that area was clearly visible from the ski station. The area was threatened by continued avalanches. The risk was between 3 on the scale of 5 and 50cm of snow had fallen on Tuesday evening and this was accompanied by rising temperatures. Some searchers had themselves been hit by an avalanche on Wednesday afternoon The area to be searched had to be secured by pisteurs using explosives.

Posted by davidof on Wednesday, 06 March, 2002 at 09:54 PM