An off piste skier had a very lucky escape skiing at Val Thorens today. This was the first day of lift served skiing in the area. The opening had to be put back 1 week due to poor snow conditions. However ski tourers have been skiing the area since the start of the month. The victim was skiing alone the north face of the Cime de Carron when he triggered the slide. The slab was around 40 meters wide travelled 350 meters downslope. The incident occured at 2800 meters altitude at 15h00. The skier was buried under a meter of snow. The piste patrol arrived rapidly and spotted fingers sticking out of the snow. The man was recovered after being buried for 15 minutes and taken to hospital for a checkup before being released. The avalanche risk was 3 and the bulletin warned that slabs could be triggered on any slope aspect by a single skier.
At l'alpe d'Huez a couple of elderly ski tourers triggered an avalanche at 2800 meters near the lac Blanc below the famous Tunnel piste. The man was airlifted to hospital with a suspected fracture to his femur. His partner escaped unhurt. Again the area has been skied by ski tourers the last days with reports appearing on social media. The avalanche risk was 3 (Considerable) above 2200 meters. The bulletin warned of windslab formed by recent snowfall and strong N to NE winds which could be easily triggered by the passage of a skier.