A British man was swept 50ft to his death in an avalanche at the top of a French ski resort following a huge snow storm.
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.
According to Francebleu, the man was staying with friends at the UCPA center in Val Thorens.
‘Four landslides have been reported in Les Menuires and Val Thorens,’ explained Ludovic Trautmann, director of the Savoie prefecture.
‘Two of which reached the town center. Given the conditions in the coming days, we are calling for the utmost vigilance. The buried person was affected by the landslide at the bottom of the resort.’
A rescue helicopter was deployed to transport him to hospital after his body was recovered from the snow, but it was unable to reach him due to poor weather conditions. He was rushed to hospital by the fire brigade while in cardio-respiratory arrest.
The Albertville prosecutor said in a statement following news of his death: ‘On April 17, 2025, an avalanche broke out shortly after 10am at the entrance to Val Thorens.
‘A British man, who was lying at the side of the road, was buried and swept about fifteen meters below’.
The 27-year-old Brit was found buried under snow at the entrance to the Val Thorens resort on Thursday before emergency services dashed him to Grenoble Hospital where he was declared dead on Friday morning (file image)
The impact of the storm claimed another life in the Alpine town of Val Thorens (pictured) after a man suffered a heart attack when he was buried under a snow slide at the entrance to the ski resort
With the heavy snow, the Savoie area has been placed on orange avalanche alert today by Meteo France.
The resorts of Tignes and Val Thoren have also issued lockdown orders which prohibit holidaymakers and residents from leaving the accommodation for safety reasons.
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.
In 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.’
The previous day, a 92-year-old man was found dead in his flooded home in the northern Piedmont region, the fire brigade said.
‘Intense and abundant’ rain had drenched the north of Italy, turning to snow above 5,905ft altitude, official said.
And in Tignes, authorities ordered residents to stay indoors after more than 3.5ft of snow fell overnight.
‘All cars are covered up to the roof… Just walking outside is worrying,’ said Mathis, a hotel employee in Tignes.
Avalanche risk was hiked to its maximum level in several regions, shutting down several ski areas.
The 36,000 people in the Swiss town of Sion were also told to stay home.
‘In such a short time, this is an enormous amount (of snow),’ said Yann Geaudry, a retired cross-country ski instructor in the French village of Termignon, who was worried about the risk of floods when the snow melts in the spring sunshine.
Many roads were shut in all three countries due to fallen trees or the risk of avalanches.
Heavy trucks were banned from using the main Mont Blanc tunnel between France and Italy and dozens that could not get through tunnels were stuck on the A43 highway linking Italy and France.
Trains were also affected, and at one point more than 3,300 homes in France and 5,000 households in Italy were left without power, according to authorities.
‘It’s truly exceptional,’ said Didier Beauchet, a retiree who has lived in Lanslebourg in Savoie for 40 years.
‘I must have seen that only five times,’ he told AFP, as motorists around him worked to free their snow-covered cars.
