American skier dies off-piste in France amid dangerous snow and wind conditions
An American man died on Tuesday while skiing off-piste in southeastern France, where the “dangerous” practice is strongly discouraged due to current weather conditions.
The man in his fifties was wearing a helmet and accompanied by an independent instructor at the Val Thorens resort in Savoie when he hit his head on a rock and died despite rapid medical intervention, the resort said.
The exact circumstances of the accident remain unknown, but Benjamin Blanc, in charge of the resort’s ski trails, told AFP that “off-piste skiing is very dangerous at the moment” due to snow that has been dispersed around by strong winds.
“We had almost 15 days of strong winds in Val Thorens, which really churned up the snow, so the rocks are exposed,” Blanc said.
He urged skiers at Val Thorens to “wait for the next snowfall before going off-piste”.
There have been several skiing fatalities in Savoie in recent days.
On Friday, two people died in avalanches, one at La Plagne resort and the other at Valloire resort.
Two young skiers also died following falls. On Saturday, one person died on the slopes of the Karellis resort, and on Monday, another person died while skiing off-piste at Meribel-Mottaret.
