Avalanches in the Alps
14th March 2023
Last modified on March 20th, 2023
The snowpack is now stabilising after a number of avalanches following the heavy snow last week. In one incident a piste basher was caught and was taken down the slope. LIVE & UPDATED
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Last week we reported on a series of fatal avalanches in Switzerland and the situation in Austria.
We now turn our attention to France where there were also a number of avalanches with people buried.
There were incidents off piste in Courchevel, Les Arcs, Meribel and Tignes.
We have heard of three fatalities.
In one incident the driver of a piste basher in Saint Colomban des Villards had a narrow escape when the snow collapsed and the machine was taken down the slope turning over several times.
The incident took place at 2,000m on the Col de Bellard.
The driver suffered cuts and bruises, but was otherwise unharmed.
Friday 17th March
In the latest avalanche incident in the Alps a 27-year-old Dutchman was caught and fully buried in an avalanche near Kappl in the Tirol in Austria.
He triggered the avalanche himself while snowboarding off piste.
His friends saw the slide and were able to dig him out and he was taken to hospital.
There is no report on his condition.
The avalanche was 130m long.
In Switzerland there has been another huge avalanche in Verbier.
The Swiss Institute for Avalanche Research, SLF, describes the current risk as ‘considerable’.
“Weakly bonded old snow on north facing slopes. Considerable avalanche danger will be encountered over a wide area,” said the SLF on Friday.
The video is from Adrenaline Guides Verbier, and was filmed at the end of the Mont Gele itnerary run that had been opened.
In the latest incident in Switzerland the avalanche occurred shortly after mid-day on 15th March in an area known as Louettes Econdouè which is situated on the way down to the Tortin area in the Nendaz sector of the Verbier ski area.
“There was a large avalanche. A large number of rescue workers were called out. A skier was killed,” said the cantonal police in a statement.
Given the size of the avalanche, eight helicopters, dog handlers and the canton police were deployed on site.
The person who died has been identified as a 58-year old person from Russia.
The dead man was pulled out from under the packed snow at around 5.30pm.
It happened at an altitude if 2,725m on a north facing slope.
The avalanche danger was at Level 3, meaning the risk was “considerable”.
The public prosecutor has launched an investigation.
Avalanche accident. Image c/o Valais Cantonal Police
The authorities have re-iterated the following advice:
“Throughout the canton there are many regions with an unfavorable, dangerous snowpack structure.
“The old snow consists of several centimeters thick of non-cohesive “granules”.
“This old snow is covered by a large layer of fresh snow.
“We remind you that level 3 already describes a critical situation and that above this level of danger it is better to refrain from off-piste skiing in unsecured terrain or without professional supervision if you do not have the necessary experience.
“The danger could continue for some time.”
A PlanetSKI reader was an eyewitness to the incident and has given us the following information:
“This was where the Highway/Stairway run meets with the backside itinerary of Mont Gelé.
“The Mont Gelé lift/run had been closed early in the morning for safety reasons and had been opened shortly before the avalanche.
“The avalanche came from the lower part of the Highway/Stairway (left) side just above where it meets the Mont Gelé recently opened itinerary run.
“The debris fell predominantly into a natural bowl at the junction.
“Several people were caught in the avalanche and most were rescued by skiers on the recently opened run and mountain staff.
“One person was buried and confirmed dead by one of the mountain rescue staff I spoke to as they left the scene. ”
There was another avalanche on Wednesday in the same area and the PlanetSKI reader has sent us the following image:
Verbier avalanche accident, 15th March 2023.
There are dangerous conditions in parts of the French Alps where 56 avalanches have been recorded in the past 10 days.
We understand a person died on Monday 13th March in Modane in the Savoie area, but have no further details at present.
The authorities in the Haute-Savoie are advising people who ski off piste to be ‘extremely careful’.
D’importantes chutes de neige se sont produites sur l’ensemble des massifs de #HauteSavoie ces dernières heures. Demain le temps sera plus clément et propice aux activités en montagne. Le manteau neigeux sera très instable. Soyez extrêmement prudents et sachez renoncer! pic.twitter.com/iJQEfcqQ4X
— Préfet de la Haute-Savoie (@Prefet74) March 14, 2023
The Swiss freestyle skier and 4 times X-Games gold medalist, Andri Ragetti, has posted this video on Twitter of an avalanche near the snowpark in Tignes.
Wow just saw this BIG avalanche next to the park!😵
Be careful out there!#Avalanche #Tignes pic.twitter.com/7cMk3UhHc0— Andri ragettli (@Andriragettli) March 15, 2023
VIDÉO – Deux avalanches se déclenchent à Tignes lors d’un festival de glisse https://t.co/KvDxU8Ln0s pic.twitter.com/wTNQEzrgqt
— France Bleu Pays de Savoie (@bleusavoie) March 16, 2023
There were no reports of any injuries.
Wednesday 15th March
On Wednesday an avalanche in Les Arcs, France is reported to have buried three people on Wednesday morning.
All were rescued.
It’s believed a snowboarder riding off piste set it off and it came down onto the Edelweiss blue run.
It triggered a search by the piste patrol.
Avalanche in Les Arcs. Image c/o Martin Dennant for PlanetSKI
The avalanche warning in the area remains at Level 4, meaning there is a “high’ risk of avalanche.
Avalanche risk 4 in Les Arcs. Image © PlanetSKI
Some of the ski area remains closed as avalanche mitigation work is carried out the people out on the slopes report much blasting taking place.
Les Arcs. Image © PlanetSKI
Les Arcs. Image © PlanetSKI
Tuesday 14th March
Three people have died in the Verbier ski area in the Valais Canton in Switzerland – two in Val des Bagnes and one in Nendaz.
Across the whole of Switzerland there have been 17 recorded avalanches with 7 people buried since the weekend.
The risk on Tuesday remains at Level 3 with “considerable risk of avalanche across large areas of Switzerland”.
Avalanche danger levels in Switzerland – Tuesday 14th March
It was a similar picture on Monday.
Avalanche danger levels in Switzerland – Monday 13th March
“Heavy snowfall and a stormy wind led to large accumulations of snow,” said the Valais Police in a statement at the weekend.
“The avalanche danger is very high throughout the canton.
“It is better not to ski outside of the marked slopes, on unsecured terrain or without professional supervision if you do not have the necessary experience.”
The first fatal incident happened on Saturday in the Bruson area where two people were caught.
At around noon two people died outside the marked slopes in the Scex Blanc region above Bruson.
They were at 2,092m on a north-west facing slope.
The risk was Level 4 meaning there was a “high” chance of avalanche.
The second incident happened in the Nendaz sector.
It happened on 2,709m on a north facing slope.
At around 12:30 pm a group of three skiers left the marked slopes of the Col des Gentianes ski heading in the direction of Tortin.
When they reached the “Louettes Econdouè” they were hit by an avalanche that buried one of the group.
The victim was located by his friends and dug out.
“The skier was given medical care and resuscitated on site by the rescue workers,” said the police.
“Despite the best efforts, the victim, a 28-year-old Dutchman residing in the Netherlands, died at the scene of the accident.”
The public prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation.
Also on Sunday a person died in Lauterbrunen in the Bern canton in Switzerland.
It was at an altitude of 2,172m on a north facing slope.
The risk was at Level 3 on Sunday.
It follows a large snowstorm accompanied by high winds.
One of our readers sent us the image below from Verbier, that shows the current fragility of the snow pack in the area.
It was taken in Col des Gentianes area.
Verbier, Switzerland.
A sharp rise in temperatures has led to the snow becoming wet and heavy.
It is a similar situation in other parts of the Alps where snow has fallen with some high altitude runs closed and the piste patrol is carrying out blasting to make the slopes safe.
Avalanche danger in Les Arcs. Image © PlanetSKI
“Lots of avalanche blasting going on and not sure how much open yet,” said PlanetSKI’s chief reporter Jane Peel from Les Arcs in France first thing this morning.
Current avalanche danger in Les Arcs. Image © PlanetSKI
“The avalanche danger rating came down very quickly from a ‘high’ 4/5 on Sunday the day of the wild snow & rain storms accompanied by high wind to a ‘considerable’ 3/5 on Monday,” said the off piste guide who is based in Val d’Isere, Henry Schniewind.
“With the weather looking much calmer this coming week, we suspect the avalanche danger will remain somewhere between a 3/5 above 2200 m and a ‘moderate’ 2/5 below that altitude for most of the week (possibly going up to a 4 again if we get any significant amounts of fresh snow).
“We’ve recently noticed a worrying series of incidents of people setting off avalanches on top of other people skiing below them.
“This generally seems to happen the first day of decent weather following a snowstorm, when people go into a ‘powder frenzy’.
“Fortunately, we haven’t heard of any fatalities, but people have been buried, and helicopter rescues have been required,” added Henry.
Here at PlanetSKI we will be updating this article so do check back.
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