Two skiers die in avalanche in French Alps

Two Estonian skiers have died after being buried by an avalanche in the French Alps on Sunday (January 12).

The skiers, both in their 30s, were skiing off-piste with a group of four others (also Estonian) in the Cugnaï section of the Val d’Isère ski station (Savoie). They were skiing without specialist avalanche equipment.

A slab of snow up to 100m wide and 300m long broke away from the side of the mountain causing the avalanche, said the Val d’Isère ski station in a press conference to the AFP (as quoted by French media outlet Actu).

Four of the group were buried in the avalanche, although one was only covered up to the waist and managed to quickly break free.

A second – completely buried – was found after ten minutes and was still conscious and breathing.

It took up to 50 minutes to find the other two who were both also completely buried. 

They had undergone cardiac arrest and were announced dead on the scene by emergency services. 

Up to 20 mountain rescue workers took part in the search operation.

Read more: I moved to France and became a mountain guide

Heightened avalanche risk

Departments in the Alps were facing warnings over an increased avalanche risk at the time, after snowfall the preceding days and strong winds in the area.

State forecaster Météo France – which provides warnings for avalanches in its daily bulletins – says that in many cases areas prone to the disaster “are often not visually identifiable, as they are due to a persistent fragile layer buried in the snow cover.” 

In the case of the avalanche this weekend, the slab that broke away from the mountainside was covered in a thin layer of fresh snowfall, making it indistinguishable from more secure areas. 

You can see if there are heightened avalanche warnings through the Météo France website.

Read more: One death and four injured in avalanche at Mont Blanc