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A British man died after being caught in an avalanche about 50 feet high at the summit of a French ski area subsequent to a massive snowstorm.
The 27-year-old was found buried under the snow at the entrance to the resort on Thursday before emergency services dashed him to Grenoble Hospital where he was declared dead on Friday morning.
As reported by Francebleu, the individual was lodging with acquaintances at the UCPA facility in Val Thorens.
'There have been four landslides reported in Les Menuires and Val Thorens,' clarified Ludovic Trautmann, who serves as the director of the Savoie prefecture.
'Out of these, two made it to the downtown area. Considering the circumstances expected in the following days, we urge extreme caution. The individual who remained had been impacted by the mudslide near the base of the resort.'
A rescue helicopter was sent to take him to the hospital following recovery of his body from the snow; however, it couldn’t get close because of bad weather. Consequently, he was swiftly taken to the hospital by the fire department.
The prosecutor from Albertville stated in a release after hearing about his passing: "On April 17, 2025, an avalanche occurred just past 10 am at the entry point of Val Thorens."
'A British man found lying beside the roadway was interred and carried approximately 15 meters downwards'
With the heavy snow, the Savoie area has been placed on orange avalanche alert today by Meteo France.
It comes as two men on their way to help with rescue efforts were also found dead on Friday after a spring storm drenched parts of northern Italy and dumped more than a metre of snow in other areas across the Alps, shutting ski areas, halting transport and killing at least one other person.
The storm shut roads, halted trains and cut power to areas in France, Italy and Switzerland.
It Italy, the bodies of a 64-year-old man and his 33-year-old son were found near Vicenza in the Venetian region, bringing the death toll in the country to three.
The pair had volunteered to help with rescue efforts after heavy rains lashed the north of the country and were on their way when their car was swept away by the currents unleashed by the deluge in what the head of the region, Luca Zaia, called an 'unimaginable tragedy.'
On the preceding day, a 92-year-old gentleman was discovered deceased within his inundated residence in the northern part of the Piedmont area, as reported by the fire department.
'Severe and plentiful' rainfall saturated northern Italy, transforming into snow at elevations over 1,830 meters, according to officials.
At the French resort of Val Thorens, officials reported that a woman suffered a heart attack after getting buried by an avalanche.
And in Tignes, authorities ordered residents to stay indoors after more than 3.5ft of snow fell overnight.
"All vehicles are protected right up to the rooftop... Simply stepping outdoors causes concern," stated Mathis, who works at a hotel in Tignes.
The avalanche danger was raised to its peak level in multiple areas, leading to the closure of various skiing zones.
The 36,000 people in the Swiss town of Sion were also told to stay home.
'This quantity of snow is incredibly large for such a brief period,' stated Yann Geaudry, a former cross-country skiing teacher from the French town of Termignon. He expressed his concerns regarding potential flooding once the snow starts melting under the spring sunlight.
Numerous routes were closed across all three nations because of toppled trees or the threat of snow slides.
Large lorries were prohibited from utilizing the primary Mont Blanc tunnel connecting France and Italy, resulting in numerous vehicles unable to pass through the tunnels becoming stranded on the A43 motorway that links Italy with France.
Trains were likewise impacted, with over 3,300 residences in France and 5,000 families in Italy experiencing power outages at some stage, as reported by officials.
'This is genuinely remarkable,' remarked Didier Beauchet, a retired resident who has called Lanslebourg in Savoie home for four decades.
"I can't recall seeing that more than five times," he said to AFP, while drivers nearby struggled to clear their vehicles buried under snow.
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