On Christmas Eve, this Tuesday, a 36-year-old man died after choking on powder snow during a fall in the resort of Flaine, in Haute-Savoie.
A tragic accident. In the resort of Flaine (Haute-Savoie), a snowboarder lost his life on Christmas Eve during a fall on an off-piste section. The victim, stuck in the snow, choked on powder.
As indicated by Commander Rolland of the Haute-Savoie High Mountain Gendarmerie Platoon (PGHM), confirming information from Dauphiné Libéré, the events took place late in the morning of Tuesday, December 24.
The 36-year-old man, originally from Haute-Savoie, fell near the Combe de Vernant sector, part of it off-piste but located in the ski area. As he fell, he found his head trapped in the snow and suffocated.
Being alone, no one was able to help him. It was only around 11:10 a.m. that a skier discovered the body and alerted the firefighters.
Still according to Commander Rolland, this is a fairly unprecedented accident: “It's not something that happens regularly.”
Note that the same day, a 14-year-old teenager died in Savoie after a series of avalanches. Three other people were also injured.
A call for vigilance in the mountains launched
This Thursday, following all these accidents, the Savoie prefecture launched a call for vigilance in the mountains: “Remarkable quantities of snow accompanied by strong winds have recently affected the Savoyard massifs from the mid-mountains, significantly increasing the risk of avalanches,” explained the prefecture in a press release.
Present “at all altitudes and at all orientations”, the avalanche risk “remains marked” 3/5 in the Beaufortain, Vanoise, Maurienne, Haute-Maurienne and Haute-Tarentaise massifs, which can cause “spontaneous avalanche departures », It is also detailed.
According to the National Association for the Study of Snow and Avalanches (ANENA), at least 14 people have died in France in avalanches since the start of the year.
