A 14-year-old teenager dies in an avalanche at the Aiguille Rouge in Savoie

It was a ski instructor located not far from the avalanche who witnessed the tragedy and raised the alarm.

A 14-year-old teenager died on Wednesday, December 25, in an avalanche at the Aiguille Rouge, France Bleu Pays de Savoie learned from the rescue trackers at the Arcs 2000 station (Savoie). He was with six other people, a whole family who were traveling off-piste.

“At 3:22 p.m. this group of seven people, who were not supervised and were operating in the off-piste sector of the Aiguille Rouge d’Arc 2000, were caught in an avalanche,” rescue trackers told France Bleu Pays de Savoie. The seven skiers in the group, including the 14-year-old victim, are French, members of the same family, who were staying in Arcs 1800 for the Christmas holidays.

It was a ski instructor, located nearby and accompanied by customers, who witnessed the tragedy and raised the alarm. Two dog teams were able to locate the victim using probes; the 14-year-old was not equipped with an avalanche victim detector (AVD). Helicoptered and taken care of by a doctor, everything was done to resuscitate him, in vain. The victim was pronounced dead at 5:08 p.m.

On Wednesday, the avalanche risk was 3 out of 5 at the Les Arcs station. Mountain professionals point out that going off-piste requires being accompanied by a guide and being equipped with essential equipment: a shovel, a probe and an avalanche victim detector.