Search continues for British snowboarder missing in French Alps
A BRITISH snowboarder has been missing in the French Alps since Saturday.
The 35-year-old was on a chalet holiday in the popular resort of Meribel with friends.
The group was in a steep off-piste area at an altitude of 2,100 metres.
The man’s friends alerted police to his disappearance on Saturday afternoon. A search was launched but was interrupted in the night due to the bad weather.
It was resumed yesterday morning with several dog teams. Today a helicopter has continued the search.
“All options are being considered with regards to his disappearance but given the current climate and size of the area it is like looking for a needle in a haystack,” said Emmanuel Dubost, head of the rescue team in Albertville.
The man, not equipped with an avalanche transceiver, was last seen in a steep area called Est du Roc de Fer.
His phone had run out of battery. He was wearing bright blue snowboarding trousers, a grey and green jacket and a black helmet.
The Alps have been on high danger alert during the past few days. Conditions have been treacherous following heavy snowfall which has settled on a weak base layer.
Authorities have issued strong warnings about the dangers of off-piste skiing.
In many areas the authorities have rated the avalanche risk as four out of five. At this risk, avalanches can easily be triggered by a single skier.
Fifteen people died in avalanches in Europe between Thursday and Saturday and two people, including the Briton, are missing.
Five skiers were killed by an avalanche on Saturday on the Piz Vilan mountain in Switzerland.
Also on Saturday, a 31-year-old Swiss man died in an avalanche while skiing off-piste in the Bernese Oberland. In the same area a 28-year-old snowboarder was engulfed by snow and died.
In Wildhaus near the Austrian border, a 26-year-old man was killed skiing off-piste after triggering an avalanche and being catapulted over a cliff.
We can confirm that a British national was reported missing in France on 1 February 2015
On Thursday, a 17-year-old French girl was killed in an avalanche in the Swiss resort of Verbier.
Elsewhere in Switzerland, a 41-year-old was killed after being caught in an avalanche on Thursday and a 38-year-old Israeli skier was killed on Friday.
In western Austria a man was killed while skiing in Damuels.
In France, a 68-year-old ski instructor died in an avalanche in d’Aussois.
And in Germany on Friday, a 20-year-old man and a 58-year-old woman lost their lives in separate avalanches in Schwarzwald.
In Bauges en Savoie, a 24-year-old hiker has been missing since Thursday.
On January 25, six experienced skiers were killed in an avalanche in the France.
In France last season, 17 people were killed in avalanches, compared with 21 in the 2013 season and 22 in 2012.
A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesperson said: "We can confirm that a British national was reported missing in France on 1 February 2015.
"We are providing consular assistance."
