On Tuesday 19 March 2024, at about 11am a man in his sixties, originally from the Haute-Savoie, died on the Mont-Blanc Massif.
Three skiers, equipped with two cords of climbing rope, appear to have been planning to ski the steep route down to the Glacier des Periades from Pointe Yeld (3560m) about 1000m north west of the Dent du Géant (4014m).
A slab of snow, hardened by persistent exposure to high velocity wind, avalanched and caught one of the skiers, carrying him in a direction he did not plan to take. Unable to extract himself from the avalanche and powerless to stop it, he was carried over a cliff with a 200m fall to his death.
The rescue team from the Chamonix PGHM observed that no High Mountain Guide was present and that the cause of death appeared to be from cardiorespiratory arrest. The two other skiers were taken care of by the rescue unit and the body of the deceased was recovered to the helicopter base in the Bois du Bouchet sector of Chamonix..
Le Dauphiné
