Overview
- Three people died on Sunday in separate incidents at Courchevel, La Plagne and Vallorcine, after three fatalities on Saturday at Val-d’Isère and Arêches-Beaufort.
- Most victims were skiing off-piste and several were not carrying avalanche beacons, including two Val-d’Isère skiers buried under about 2.5 meters of snow and located via their phones.
- Rescue operations were extensive, with La Plagne deploying 52 responders, avalanche dogs and a helicopter to find a victim who was located after roughly 50 minutes under deep snow.
- Météo-France maintains a level 4 out of 5 avalanche risk across nearly all Savoie and Haute-Savoie massifs, citing unstable weak layers beneath recent heavy accumulations.
- Authorities discourage off-piste travel, urge carrying a beacon, shovel and probe, conduct preventive avalanche triggering, and have opened emergency shelters for stranded travelers in affected valleys.