Fatalities Avoided after Avoriaz Avalanche

An avalanche in Avoriaz carried over a piste early yesterday afternoon, but luckily no-one was seriously hurt.

A slide of around 400m long and 100m wide occurred just before 2pm, coming off the mountain and over blue piste Arare where a number of people were skiing. Search teams were quickly on the ground looking for potential victims, but thankfully there were no fatalities.

Alain Blas General Director of Serma, Avoriaz's ski lift company, said: "Snowfall that lasts for one week, from 10 to 20 centimetres a day, alternating with rain, makes [snow conditions] very unstable. But the solidarity of all in the resort, ski school instructors and ski patrollers who ran from the warning given to help the search, was heartwarming and also shows the responsiveness of the entire staff".

In all, around 80 people mobilized a search which lasted around 2 hours and involved 4 avalanche dogs, with local rescue teams, Chatel rescue team members and instructors from local ski schools.

Thankfully in this case no-one was seriously hurt, but with avalanches having happened in Courmayeur, Tignes, Val d'Isere and Les 2 Alpes in the last week, it just shows how unstable the snow pack is at the moment. Stay safe out there!