A 25 year old British snowboarder was tragically killed yesterday after falling into a crevasse whilst boarding down the Vallée Blanche.
The group of snowboarders had set off early afternoon on the favoured descent route, and were close to the Gros Rognon area (3,400m altitude) when disaster struck. A snow bridge covering the hidden crevasse collapsed. The young snow boarder immediately disappeared; falling approximately 30 meters into the crevasse. The Chamonix PGHM immediately summoned a helicopter but unfortunately the surfer had died from the impact of the fall.
After such an intense and cold winter across the French Alps, the recent warmer spring weather has created unstable layers in the snowpack, resulting a number of slab avalanches and the weakening of snow bridges.
