Avalanche
Following the tragic avalanche in the Mont Blanc massif, France, that claimed the lives of a British mother and son on Thursday, December 28th, 2023, authorities have launched a manslaughter investigation. The police are actively searching for two backcountry skiers believed to have possibly triggered the fatal avalanche.
Prosecutor Karline Bouisset told local media that “two cross-country skiers were upslope” and could have triggered the avalanche. The Chamonix PGHM, with Megève brigade’s help, is investigating the avalanche to find out what happened and who is responsible. At the same time, the prosecutor’s office is looking into possible manslaughter, with police gathering evidence.
An avalanche expert has examined the site and will submit a report soon. Guy Le Nevé from the Chamonix search team said the area was for expert skiers, and the group knew the instructor and the area well. He also mentioned that, despite earlier reports, the instructor didn’t have a beacon.
The British mother and son were traveling together with three other family members in a guided group with a ski instructor. In total, three of the six skiers were swept away by the avalanche and buried. The third skier who was swept away and buried by the avalanche was the instructor, who survived with mild injuries.
The avalanche occurred around 3:40 p.m. in a popular off-piste area in the Saint-Gervais-les-Bains ski area of the Mont-Blanc massif. The avalanche started at an altitude of approximately 2,400 meters (7,874 feet) near the Mont-Joly chairlift and went down around 400 meters (1,312 feet).
A major search and rescue system was initiated by the Peloton de Gendarmerie de Haute Montagne de Chamonix Mont-blanc (‘PGHM’) of Chamonix. The avalanche rescue team worked into the night, trying to find and extract all victims of the avalanche. Unfortunately, all help came too late for the British mother, aged 54, and her 22-year-old son. The father was reportedly part of the ski group but was uninjured.
According to the initial investigation by officials at Haute-Savoie, the 1,300-foot-long avalanche was triggered by two other skiers traversing a little higher on the slope. A full investigation will be conducted to determine the exact circumstances of this tragedy by the Bonneville prosecutor’s office.
“Mont-Joly is a mountain that is open to alpine skiing but has very steep slopes and is unfortunately very popular with off-piste skiers. Today, it was not the time to go off-piste.”
— Jean-Marc Peillex, Mayor of Saint-Gervais-Les Bains
In April 2023, an avalanche killed six people at the Armancette glacier near Mont Blanc in south-eastern France.
Somewhere around 100 people are caught in avalanches in France every year.
About 30 people die in avalanches in France each year.
This is a terrible tragedy, but I’m trying to determine if the 2 backcountry skiers above were there unlawfully or permitted to be there?