eleventh January 2026
Three individuals died on Saturday and three extra on Sunday. The British fatality was snowboarding in La Plagne. NEW
It has been a grim weekend and follows heavy snowfall with the authorities advising excessive warning if venturing off piste.
In lots of areas there was a Degree 4 danger, which means there’s a ‘excessive’ chance of avalanches.
The British fatality on Sunday in La Plagne was man in his 50s who was caught in an avalanche whereas snowboarding off the marked runs.
Greater than 50 rescuers looked for him and located the person buried below 2.5m of snow after practically an hour of looking.
He was pronounced lifeless on the scene.
The authorities say he was not sporting an avalanche transceiver.
Elsewhere on Sunday a skier died in an avalanche in Courchevel in Les3Vallees.
There was additionally an avalanche in Orelle in Les3Vallees on Sunday and a sufferer has been taken to the hospital of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne.
The individual’s situation has not been launched and it’s understood the individual was not sporting a transceiver.
In Vallorcine close to Chamonix a 32-year-old ski paroller skier died after being caught in an avalanche.
It follows the dying of three skiers in two separate avalanches within the French Alps on Saturday.
In Val d’Isere two French off-piste skiers died after being buried by an avalanche within the Misplaced Valley within the Bellevarde space of the ski space.
They have been buried below 2.5m of snow and weren’t sporting transceivers.
In one other incident on Saturday within the Areches-Beaufort resort two off piste skiers have been caught in an avalanche.
One died on the scene and the opposite is in hospital with critical head accidents.
We reported on the tragedies on Saturday:
On Sunday there have been quite a few different avalanches together with one in Tignes.
It occurred in an off-piste sector in Palafour.
One individual was buried and the sufferer, who was acutely aware, was rescued by the ski patrol.
The individual was not sporting an avalanche transceiver.
In Arc 1950 an avalanche got here throughout a highway and no autos have been hit.
The highway, the RD119, had been closed.
All of it follows the heavy snow over the previous few days that now we have been reporting on PlanetSKI.
There was ‘appreciable’ or ‘excessive’ avalanche danger throughout might elements of the northern French Alps and Switzerland.
Right here was Sunday’s avalanche forecast in Switzerland:
Avalanche hazard in Switzerland, Sunday 11h January. Picture c/o Swiss Avalanche Institute.
The chance has fallen for Monday, however it’s nonetheless at Degree 3 – ‘appreciable’.
Avalanche hazard in Switzerland, Monday twelfth January. Picture c/o Swiss Avalanche Institute.
Extra individuals die in avalanches when the chance is at Degree 3, than some other degree.
“Recent snow and enormous portions of wind-drifted snow of the final 4 days are poorly bonded with the previous snowpack,” stated a press release for the Swiss Institute for Snowe & Avalanche Analysis.
“Avalanches can in lots of locations be launched, even by a single winter sport participant and attain giant measurement in remoted instances.
“Whumpfing sounds and the formation of capturing cracks when stepping on the snowpack can point out the hazard.
“Backcountry touring and different off-piste actions name for expertise within the evaluation of avalanche hazard and warning.”
The brand new snow has fallen on an unstable base and excessive winds have moved a lot snow creating hazard spots.
The authorities have re-iterated for excessive warning because the snow pack is extremely harmful.
For these skiers and snowboarders staying on the marked runs the circumstances at the moment are glorious after the heavy snow and the passing of the storm.
Right here at PlanetSKI we will likely be updating this text as we obtain additional particulars.
We urge everybody out snowboarding to obey all the principles and recommendation, and if snowboarding off piste take all the right security gear and know easy methods to use it.
Keep off any slope that’s 30 levels steep, or threatened by a slope that’s 30 levels.
Ideally rent a skilled information who will discover the perfect snow within the most secure circumstances doable.
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