A 60 year old male skier, resident of the Haute-Savoie department, has been killed by an avalanche descending from the Pointe Yeld (3560m) in the Mont Blanc mountain range. The incident occurred around 11h00. The skier with two companions was traversing to the glacier des Périades on north facing slopes around 3200 meters when he triggered a small slab that knocked him off balance. He fell 200 meters down-slope. The route is a classic steep ski tour accessible from the Aiguille du Midi.
The avalanche risk was 3 (Considerable) at the time of the avalanche due to wind blown snow. Around 15cm of fresh snow had fallen on the 16th and the bulletin warned of many small slabs in place due to the West wind on Monday which could easily be triggered by skiers as well as rarer larger slabs (30-60cm depth) at altitude.