Deadly avalanche in Savoie. A 44-year-old woman died this Saturday in an avalanche in the Norma ski area, while she was skiing off-piste, the gendarmes said.
The slide occurred shortly after noon at an altitude of more than 2,500 meters when she was part of a group of three skiers, including her partner, a manager of the high-level gendarmerie platoon told AFP. -mountain (PGHM) of Bourg-Saint-Maurice, confirming information from France Bleu Pays-de-Savoie.
Avalanche risk at level 3 out of 5
The forty-year-old, a resident of the region, “was the only one to be carried by the avalanche for 200 meters before being dragged the same distance by an overavalanche which then completely buried her“, he added.
The victim, who was not wearing an avalanche victim detector (AVD), was located after an hour. She was quickly freed by a team of six rescuers from the Modane PGHM, who arrived by helicopter. Despite the efforts made, the skier could not be revived.
In the Savoyard massifs, the avalanche risk has been “marked” since Tuesday (3 on a scale of 5), potentially causing spontaneous avalanches to start. The PGHM called on the public “to be really careful” before picking up the skis.
This incident joins several other recent accidents in the Alps, where snow conditions have been particularly unstable. On Thursday, the Savoie prefecture issued a call for caution after a series of avalanches, one of which killed a 13-year-old skier. On Wednesday, three other avalanches left three people injured in the Savoyard massifs. On Monday, two teenagers aged 12 and 17 were also injured in an avalanche in Val d'Isère.
Since the start of the year, at least 14 people have died in France in avalanches, according to the National Association for the Study of Snow and Avalanches (ANENA).
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