An avalanche has caught a large group of ski tourers at le Mont Dore in the Massif Central. Four of them have been killed, 3 lightly injured, one had triggered his airbag. The group appear to have been climbing the very steep slopes at the top of the valley, roped into four parties and using crampons. One group took an easier route to the top of the valley and gave the alert when they discovered the avalanche. The search operation was difficult due to the weather conditions and the police helicopter was unable to reach the scene. Around 50 people were involved in the rescue operation. The group were part of the French Alpine Club in Vichy and were led by a -mountain guide who was described as "highly experienced" with 20 years working in the area and leading long distance tours in the Alps and beyond. He was one of the victims. The buried skiers were located using their avalanche transceivers. The slide occurred at around 1600 meters the top of a couloir in the north facing Val d'Enfer. The alert was given at 13h30. The victims were buried under 4 meters of snow.
Authorities in the area warned backcountry travellers to take extreme care. Heavy snow has fallen above 1000 meters. Their is no official avalanche bulletin for the region but the resort estimated the risk as 3/5. The weather was cloudy with some intermittent light snowfall and snow above 900 meters with the wind strengthening during the morning from the south (gusts of 70km/h) and the snow/rain limit rising to 1400 meters.
Avalanches are rare in the mountain range. The last fatality dates from 2017 near to the ski resort of le Lioran.
