Man injured after skier throws giant snowball from ski lift onto restaurant terrace in French Alps

A man has been injured and is suffering from ‘severe psychological shock’ after being hit by a large snowball thrown from a ski lift at an alpine resort. 

The 63-year old was eating lunch with his granddaughter in Alpe d'Huez on an outside terrace when he was hit by the snowball. 

It was thrown from someone using the Clos Giraud skilift that skirts above the restaurant they were at.

The victim’s glasses were broken and he suffered light injuries, but was lucky not to be hurt further as the snow was compact and dropped from a significant height. 

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“This kind of behaviour must be punished,” said ski lift manager at the resort Fabrice Boutet to local media FranceBleu.

“When you come to the mountains, it's to enjoy yourself, not to be bothered by this kind of irresponsible person.” 

Culprit found 

Two complaints were launched with the local gendarme following the incident, one by the injured man and another by the ski lift operator. 

The man who threw the snowball posted a video of himself doing so on social media site TikTok. The assailant shouts bon appétit! as he throws the snowball into the crowd. 

The original video has since been deleted, but you can see it after it was re-shared on X. 

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Using the original social media post, investigators were able to cross-reference the time of the passage with the ski pass used to access the lift for the journey, and find the person responsible. 

It is a young man in his early 20s from Paris.

Gendarmes are set to question him over the incident, with the official investigation being opened for ‘intentional violence with a weapon’. 

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