A ski tourer has been killed by an avalanche near the summit of the Ombilic between the Gondran and Infernet forts close to Briançon in the Hautes-Alpes on Saturday afternoon. The slide ocured at 2400 m. altitude and the victim was carried 200 to 300 meters by the slide. The alert was giving around 16h00 by one of the victim's partners.
The rescue operation was complicated by poor visibility. The victim, a ski instructor from Montgenèvre, had been under snow for two hours before being found in the early evening by an avalanche rescue dog. He was wearing an avalanche beacon but it was not switched on. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Briançon hospital. The man was local to the area.
There was another avalanche in the same sector. Two men were caught by an avalanche in the Bois-Vacher sector in the Val des Prés. One of the skiers was buried by the slide but was rescued by his companion. He suffered multiple injuries in the slide and was evacuated by helicopter to hospital.
The avalanche risk was 3/5 (Considerable) at the time with weak layers in the snowpack and snow transport under the influence of a strong southerly and easterly wind.