A female ski tourer, part of a group of experienced skiers from the Nice section of the French Alpine Club (CAF), has been killed by an avalanche near the Col de Larche. The incident occurred under the summit of the Bec d'Aigle (2815m) at 2500 meters altitude around 12h30. The victim, aged in her 50s, was buried under 4 meters of snow. Her colleagues begun the search and rescue attempt and they were joined but 20 members of the mountain rescue and dog handlers flown in by helicopter. The group had spent the night in a mountain refuge before the incident. Four other ski tourers were buried by the slide, two of the group were flown to helicopter in a state of shock and with hypothermia. It is the second incident involving the French Alpine Club, on Sunday a woman fell to her death on the Grand Colon above Grenoble after losing her footing on hard snow.
The avalanche risk was 3 (Considerable) for the Ubaye on Monday above 1800 meters. There had been around 30cm of snow with strong winds from the west. The bulletin had warned of fresh, windblown snow with the risk of some large spontaneous avalanches as well as the risk of large skier triggered soft and hard slabs. In January, 2015 six members of the local French Alpine Club were killed by an avalanche on the nearby couloir de Mamelle while ski touring.