A member of staff at the Val d''Isère tourist office has been killed by an avalanche above the resort today. The incident happened in the Signal de l'Iseran sector at around 2950 meters altitude. The 49 year old man was descending on a splitboard (snowboard) when a small avalanche pushed him over a 5 meter cliff. He landed on his head and was in a state of cardio-vascular arrest when his two companions found him. Despite first aid at the scene he was pronounced dead by a doctor air lifted to the scene.
The avalanche risk was 2 in the area. The bulletin noted that there were still some small surface slabs and more particularly sluffs that could trigger under skis on steeper slopes.