This photograph taken on December 20, 2023, shows an avalanche risk signage flag as rescuers take part in a search and rescue exercise for avalanche victims in Les Deux Alpes resort, south-eastern France. JEFF PACHOUD / AFP
An Alpine avalanche in France killed two off-piste skiers on Tuesday, February 17, a local prosecutor's office said, bringing the toll this winter from such accidents to 27. A group of five skiers in the mountains near the resort town of La Grave in the French Alps were caught in the avalanche, said the prosecutor's office in Gap, administrative capital of the Hautes-Alpes administrative region in southeastern France.
One skier, who was guiding the group, was injured. The other two skiers were unharmed, the office added, without providing further details on the skiers or the circumstances of the avalanche. The avalanche risk in the La Grave area, on La Meije mountain, was "high" on Tuesday – 4 on a 5-point scale – due to a combination of fresh snow and wind, according to the French weather service.
The latest deaths bring the number of people killed in avalanches in France to 27 since the start of the season, with the majority occurring since January, including six over one weekend. An avalanche killed three off-piste skiers, including two Britons, in the French Alps on Friday last week, a day after several ski resorts shut down due to the risk of snowslides.
