A member of the piste patrol of the resort of Aussois in the Maurienne has been seriously injured early today by an avalanche while securing the ski domain. A large avalanche was also triggered by an off-piste skier above the Piste du Diable at les Deux Alpes yesterday. Ski mountaineers triggered an avalanche at the Col de la Rouya near Vallouise in the Hautes Alpes. There were no injuries in either incident.
Meanwhile there is increasing concern in the Val d’Arly in the Savoie for a cross-country skier who set off yesterday afternoon on off-piste tracks. A large rescue operation has been in operation since the alert was given yesterday evening by his family. The skier, a Dutch tourist in his sixties was holidaying at Saint-Nicolas-la-Chapelle. The search is centered around steep woodland between Saint-Nicolas and le Planey in the community of Notre-Dame de Bellecombe. Last night the temperature dropped to -5C and there has been continuing snowfall.
[update 16/2/2005]
Hope of finding the missing skier alive is fading. Searchers have found tracks and the skis of the missing man close to the Nant Rouge river. Divers have been called in to search the many sinks and potholes that mark the bed of this fast flowing river. Police believe that the man removed his skis and lost his footing on the icy banks. In January a snowboarder froze to death after falling into a river at the ski resort of Les Contamines and a smuggler died after falling into the Ariège close to Andorra when a snowbridge gave way.
We have learned that the Aussois Pisteur, Dominique ‘Pompom’ Col, who was well known as the guardian of the refuge du Fond d’Aussois died yesterday. He had been in a coma since his accident.