It has emerged that two skiers could have caused the avalanche that claimed the lives of a British mother, 54, and her son, 22, in the French Alps.
“Two cross-country skiers were upslope” and “could have caused the avalanche,” said prosecutor, Karline Bouisset of the Bonneville Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The family caught in the avalanche while off-piste in Saint-Gervais-les-Bains were all experienced skiers and were out when the avalanche risk was ‘moderate’. Three other family members survived the disaster on December 28, as well as two other people, and a ski instructor.
Ms Bouisset has opened a criminal inquiry into “manslaughter” while police collect evidence about the incident.
The two cross-country skiers have been traced and will be helping investigators with their enquiries.
It took a team of 30 rescuers including two helicopters, two dogs and a medical support team up to five hours to find the mother and son.
Ms Boisset said: “By the time they were found, both victims were deceased.”
The accident happened at around 3.30pm on December 28, at 2300m above sea level, with the avalanche measuring around 400m.
The Daily Mail reports that avalanche victim detectors are not compulsory for those choosing to ski off-piste, but they are recommended by Alexandre Merlin, the director of the ski area. No one in the family was wearing an avalanche transceiver, which emits a silent signal that can be detected if buried under snow.
Mr Merlin said: “At the moment, it is very difficult to read the stability of the snow cover, the temperature fluctuations, and the freezing. It is difficult to be 100 percent confident about safety.”
Saint-Gervais Mayor Jean-Marc Peillex said: “It’s terrible what happened. A family is decimated, and we are very sad in Saint-Gervais.”
This is not the only fatality to occur in the region, there was another Alpine fatality on the same day when a 31-year-old man fell about 500 metres from a rocky ridge in Chantepérier, in the Ecrins Massif.
