A large avalanche on the Dent Parrachée (3697m) early this morning in the Savoie department has left three dead and three injured, one in a critical condition. A 60 year old man was killed by an avalanche in the Hautes-Alpes on Saturday.
The avalanche occured in the Chaise du Pape, a suspended glacial bowl between the Dent Parrachée and the Pointe de la Fournache at 3600 meters altitude. It took most of the upper section of the South-East facing bowl, some 300 meters wide. The avalanche happened at around 8h30 this morning, the risk at the time was Considerable (3/5). There had been strong northerly winds on Thursday night with 10cm of fresh snow and a further 15cm of snow on Friday. The avalanche appears to have been a soft slab triggered by the groups themselves. The debris ran some 600 meters over cliffs and the victims were buried a meter under the snow. All were equipped with avalanche transceivers.
Two groups were in the bowl. A father and son in the upper section and a group of four lower down. This second group was with a high mountain guide aged in his thirties from Bramans who survived the slide with back injuries. The groups had spent the night in the Dent Parrachée refuge and had set out at first light. The ski route, via the Brèche de Loza, is rated 4.1 (steep) with some exposure. It is very popular with ski tourers as it can be accessed as far as 2500 meters via the ski lifts of Aussois.
The alert was given by three ski tourers already at the summit who witnessed the avalanche. The rescue was complicated by the risk of secondary avalanches.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xz04ki_avalanche-1_news
http://www.data-avalanche.org/static/dataavalanche/joomla/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=134&aval_id=1365937868880
In the Hautes-Alpes a 60 year old French man was killed on Saturday by an avalanche at the Col de la Montagne Haute, above the ski area of Orcières in the Champsaur. The accident occured at 14h00 at 2000 meters altitude. The skier was with a local man who was also caught by the slide but was not injured.
A Belgium skier was injured by a avalanche near the col de la Lauze in the Oisans at 10h00 on Sunday morning. Part of a group of 8 ski tourers accompanied by a guide, two of the group were caught by a slide at 3500 meters while descending from the Selle refuge. It appears the slide was triggered by another group of skiers.