British ski tourer found dead

The body of a British ski tourer has been found today by searchers. The man had set out alone on Monday from the village of Méolans-Revel in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department to climb the vallon de l’Averq on skis.

He was reported missing during the afternoon but a search operation yesterday failed to find the man, aged 30. The man had recently moved to the area with his girlfriend. The search resumed early this morning and the body was discovered around 09h00 under an avalanche at 2000 meters altitude. The risk was High (4/5) at the time.

Posted by on Tuesday, 21 February, 2006 at 03:37 PM

Earlier today at le Tour close to Chamonix a snowboarder in his thirties from New Zealand was avalanched and taken 300 meters through trees injuring his arms and legs. The risk was Considerable (3/5) at the time. He was taken by helicopter to hospital in Geneva in an extremely serious condition and may have his legs amputated. A ski mountaineer has been killed by a crevasse fall at 3,300m on the glacier du Géant below the Tour Ronde close to Mont-Blanc. The man was an officier in the Belgium Gendarmerie.

Posted by davidof on Tuesday, 21 February, 2006 at 07:43 PM

A personal friend was one of those who died yesterday in the southern Alps resort of Pra-Loup. Tempted out after a month of Feb spent ski racing from Andorra to the Vosges, back at home a usually ‘risk-free’ couloir was to prove his undoing. Just 16 years old, a terrible, tragic loss of a youngster with so much to give.

-- updated 20h00 --
More information on Pra-Loup avalanche from MySnowSports.com

Posted by PGMySnowSports on Tuesday, 21 February, 2006 at 09:07 PM