Two snowboarders have fallen into pot-holes in separate incidents today while off-piste in Flaine in the Haute Savoie department.
A snowboarder, named as Cyril Paumier, 29 years old and a resident of Passy in the Haute-Savoie department was killed after falling 50 meters into a pothole in the Grande Platière sector. The accident happened around midday while the boarder was off-piste. His body was recovered by the Flaine piste patrol
In a separate incident, a 16 year old British girl was injured after falling into a fissure in the same area. She was found at 18h45 after having spent 2 hours at the bottom of the crevasse.
The Flaine plateau is covered with potholes and fissures and it is especially dangerous to venture off-piste at the start of the season when the snow cover is thin. A thirty-five year old man was killed in a similar accident in January of this year.