Two Grenoble based ski tourers have been killed by an avalanche late this afternoon on the west side of the Belle Plinier (3086m) close to the Italian border. The victims were two women, a third member of the group escaped without injury and was able to give the alert although he had to descend to a hamlet as he lost his mobile phone in the slide.
The west face is not particularly difficult, the slope is a maximum of 35 degrees but is prone to slabs after fresh snow / snow transport. The avalanche risk was 2/5 in the sector but the bulletin spoke of a persistent weak layer on locally on west facing slopes close to the border with Italy.