The two victims were part ofa group of six Estonian skiers who were traveling in the off-piste sector of the Envers du Cugnaï not equipped with avalanche devices “when a plate 100m wide and 300m long came loose”according to a press release from Val d’Isère.
Four men in their thirties were buried, including one up to the waist, who was able to get out quickly, emergency services told AFP.
First responders were able to free one of the completely buried skiers in less than ten minutes. He was conscious and still breathing.
Two other victims were found by the station's dog teams in cardio-respiratory arrest, one after more than 40 minutes buried, the other after more than 50 minutes. They died on the spot, emergency services said.
Around twenty rescue trackers
Trackers were patrolling the site at the time of the avalanche and immediately began rescue and search operations.
Thanks to the station's technical helicopter, seven dog trackers from Val d'Isère and Tignes intervened supported by two helicopter-borne mountain rescue crews.
In all, around twenty rescue trackers intervened, accompanied by monitors who came as reinforcements to help with the survey and the station doctor.
Snowfall accompanied by strong wind
The avalanche risk was “fort” Sunday, with an index of 4 out of 5 on several massifs of the northern Alps and Hautes-Alpes, after the snowfall of recent days.
In his forecasts, Météo-France indicates that the places conducive to triggering are in the high mountains (altitude limits depending on the massifs) and “are often not visually identifiable, because they are due to a persistent fragile layer buried in the snow cover”.
This layer formed during the anticyclonic period and was covered by recent snowfall.
These snowfalls were accompanied by a strong wind, facilitating the formation of slabs and increasing the probability of triggering.
