End of season avalanches

The continued heavy snow at the end of the season has caused some avalanche risks for those skiing the higher resorts in the Portes du Soleil.

On Saturday an avalanche was set off at 1800 metres in the resort of Abondance, where two ski-tourers were skiing in the Mont de Grange area.


Fortunately the two skiers managed to escape the large slide but one of the skiers injured his knee in the process. The alert was given and a helicopter from Chamonix was sent over to airlift the injured man from the mountain, however on arrival the weather had closed in forcing the two skiers to make their own way off the mountain. They made it down to a nearby restaurant where they were met by emergency services.

Shortly after this incident another avalanche was triggered, this time in the resort of Chatel, where two British skiers had ventured off-piste.

Fortunately there were no injuries involved however the two British skiers were unable to ski out from the steep slope. An helicopter from Annecy was flown in to help with the rescue, dropping off two members of the rescue team close to the avalanche site (as they were not able to winch the men directly off the mountain due to the strong winds). The rescue team winched the men out of the steep couloir via ropes from the top entry point.

Stick to the rules and skiing is safe.

The unfortunate accident at the weekend in Les Gets where two children who were sledging on the Turche piste front at 7 pm collided with the back of a piste basher shows what can happen when visitors to Les Gets do not stick to the rules.

In all French ski resorts it is a by-law offence to be on the pistes after 17:55, the time at which piste grooming normally starts.

The 5 year old boy was helicoptered to a hospital in Grenoble whilst the 7 year old girl was taken to hospital in Thonon les Bains and its being reported that while the injuries are serious they are now not life threatening.

Due to the high level of snow this winter and the gradual warming of conditions last week there also remains a high risk of avalanche in some South facing slopes. Please take care when skiing off piste.

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