Carried away by an avalanche, a woman died this Saturday in an off-piste area of the La Norma resort.
A tragedy which comes three days after the death of a teenager in the same circumstances in the department.
New deadly avalanche in Savoie. A 44-year-old skier was killed by a snow slide this Saturday while she was in an off-piste area of the La Norma resort, the TF1-LCI police-justice service learned. This skier was accompanied by two other people – her partner with whom she was in a civil partnership and a friend – who escaped the avalanche unscathed. Originally from the region, the group left without specific off-piste equipment.
Two successive snow slides
The tragedy occurred in two stages. A first slide of snow first carried away the three skiers, covering the woman halfway up. But a second avalanche completely buried the victim, trapped under 1m20 of powder. After the alert given at 12:15 p.m., the Haute-Montagne Gendarmerie Platoon (PGHM) immediately intervened and created a search zone at the bottom of the valley.
Emergency services, who arrived quickly on the scene, found the skier within 45 minutes. But the woman had already died on the spot. Significant resources had been mobilized to help the trapped skiers, including a helicopter, seven rescuers, four trackers from the Norma station and three avalanche dogs dispatched to the scene.
Numerous avalanches in recent days
On Wednesday December 25, a 13-year-old teenager had already been swept away by a previous avalanche in Savoie. The young skier was also skiing off-piste, but this time in the Les Arcs area, in the Aiguille Rouge sector. The same day, three other avalanches in the department also left three other people injured in total. After this accident, the prefect of Savoy called for “the greatest caution in the practice of mountain activities, in particular outside secure slopes“.
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“Throughout the season and in particular after heavy snowfall, winter sports practitioners must take all necessary precautions and follow the advice given by professionals.“, recommended the authorities, placing particular emphasis on the fact”to avoid going alone“off-piste and”favor a practice supervised by a guide” for such outings.
