The search for a missing policeman is continuing today close to the ski resort of Orcières-Merlette in the Hautes-Alpes department.
The missing skier, Jean-Marc Bonneau is a member of the Gendarme mobile, a branch of the French security services that are sent to trouble spots and other areas of need. Mr Bonneau had been working in the ski resort when he dissappeared while skiing off piste in the massif Champollion.
Earlier in the season a massive search was undertaken to find two missing snowshoers without results. The bodies were finally discovered under an avalanche with the arrival of the spring thaw.