French mountain rescue services have called for prudence after the fourth ski death in a fortnight. A 23 year old ski tourer was killed today in the north couloir of the Grand Mont d'Arêches (2686 meters) in the Beaufortain mountain range. The incident occurred in the early afternoon. The skier fell several hundred meters. The exit of the couloir is blocked by cliff bands that need a rappel. His parents, based in Albertville, were worried when he failed to return from his ski tour and alerted the rescue services.
The long anticyclone couple with a freeze thaw cycle has created very hard pistes and icy conditions off piste. A spokesman for the rescue said "Over the past few days, we have noticed a significant increase in serious accidents on and off the slopes. Accidents due to the weather, the state of the snow, which is hard and icy in places, but also to the behavior of skiers who are behaving recklessly following the slope closures, the ski slopes are not the place for that."