Five Skiers Killed As Avalanches Sweep French Alps

The first big avalanches of the new season killed five skiers in the French Alps this weekend, and badly injured four others, as local officials warned that winter sports enthusiasts should take "exceptional care" amid continuing heavy snowfalls and strong winds.

The deadliest snowslide swept four French cross-country skiers to their deaths at about 11am yesterday.

The victims, three men and one woman, were part of a group of nine French Alpine Club members on a marked 2,100m-high trail near the resort of La Grave in the Ecrins mountain region - the scene of several avalanches last year.

"They were experienced skiers on a recognised route and because of the low temperature, no avalanche warnings had been given," said local government official, Alain Gueydan.

"In theory, there was no special danger. But as we are reminded every year, there is no such thing as zero risk in the mountains."

Two other members of the party escaped from the 100m-long, 400m-wide avalanche with minor injuries and were being treated for shock at nearby Briançon hospital, Mr Gueydan said.

The three remaining skiers were unharmed and managed to alert rescuers by mobile phone.

Some 50 mountain rescue workers, police and firemen from Briançon and La Grave, transported by two helicopters, arrived at the scene within a quarter of an hour of the avalanche, but too late to save the four unidentified victims, aged between 40 and 60, he said.

One body was finally recovered buried under three metres of snow.

A separate heavy avalanche near the 2,000m-high summit of the La Quarlie mountain above Besse-en-Oisans in the Isére region claimed another life on Sunday afternoon, Grenoble mountain rescue services said.

The Frenchman's two companions, found by rescue dogs at about 3.15pm, survived the 800m-long snowslide unscathed.

On Saturday afternoon, two off-piste skiers in the Ecrins region were seriously injured when they triggered a spectacular avalanche halfway down a steep 2,900m-high slope.

Suffering from a broken leg and fractured collarbone, they too were taken by helicopter to hospital and were "very lucky to be alive", a police spokesman said.

Two more off-piste skiers were injured near Auron in the Alpes Maritimes region in a smaller avalanche on Saturday afternoon.

Like many resorts across the French Alps, Auron had opened part of its ski area for the first time this weekend to profit from the unusually heavy recent snowfalls.

Officials said skiers should take extra care and questioned the wisdom of opening slopes early, at a time when the snow was not yet fully stable. "A lot of resorts may feel pressured into opening before it is completely safe," one regional official said.

Poor snow last year meant some Alpine resorts, notably in the Hautes-Alpes, lost up to 20% of their usual trade.