Sunday morning 28th January 2018, two skiers, a French-British man (25) and a British man (30), fell to their deaths while skiing off-piste upstream of the Grands Montets ski area, in the Chapeau couloir (2500m).
According to Le Dauphine, it is understood that they were a group of three friends skiers on holiday in Chamonix.
Mountain rescuers were called at 11:40am by the third member of the group who was unharmed.
The tragic accident occured in the Chapeau couloir, a 40-degree slope, accessed from the village of Argentière, which is known for its steep routes and glacial terrain.
According to FranceInfo, they were skiing Le Couloir Du Chapeau at an altitude of 2100 metres when they jumped off a rocky ledge, and fell down the couloir and died instantly.
The Chamonix PGHM said that the “Three British men were skiing Le Couloir Du Chapeau. It is a steep off-piste area. "The snow at the moment is very hard, it is not powder skiing. The conditions in the couloir are not good. “The two men fell one after the other to their deaths. They fell independently but within a couple of minutes of each other. “They fell several hundred metres".
“For sure these men were good skiers but the conditions are not good" added the PGHM.
The bodies of the two skiers were recovered from the mountain by the PGHM helicopter.
An investigation has been opened by the Chamonix PGHM to determine the circumstances of the accident.
The Foreign Office said: "We are in touch with the French authorities following the death of two British people in France and are providing support to their families."
According to mountain experts, the heavy snowfalls of the last few weeks and the recent mild weather made the conditions particularly unfavourable and they are warning skiers to exercise the utmost caution if considering venturing off-piste.
Chapeau Couloir
From Argentière take the Lognan cable-car and the Bochard gondola descending into the Lavancher Bowl and track left maintaining a high line to traverse beneath the west face of the Aiguille à Bochard. Continue along the high line to a shoulder on the far edge of the Aiguille à Bochard ridge. Then climb up for a few meters to access the Chapeau Couloir. This impressive looking couloir is quite steep at the beginning (35-40 dergees/450m) but also quite wide and easy to ski when in good conditions. As you descend further down the couloir, it becomes narrow and further you go narrow it gets with more rocks and boulders below the snow. Taking a careful route to the tries is prefered by many skiers. When the couloir ends is very narrow with the rock cliff on the right, once you passed that, take the track on the right all the way back to the bus stop on the main road below Lavancher at the top of La Poya.
