Beno\u00eet Bachelet, the Albertville public prosecutor, said an investigation for manslaughter had been opened into the incident.<\/p>\n
He added that alcohol and drug tests carried out on the instructor, who is unharmed, were negative.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe arrived at the scene and quickly found two victims, as they were equipped with all the necessary gear, including avalanche transceivers,\u201d C\u00e9dric Bonnevie, director of the Val d\u2019Is\u00e8re ski patrol, told France Info.<\/p>\n
The avalanche, he said, \u201cswept down the slope for 400 metres and ended in a stream, where we found the other two victims, who had died. We called in our dog handlers because their equipment was no longer working.\u201d<\/p>\n
The incident unfolded less than 24 hours after the Savoie department was placed on a rare red avalanche alert \u2013 a level of warning issued only twice before in the 25 years since its introduction.<\/p>\n
Storm Nils had deposited between 60 and 100 centimetres of fresh snow across the region, leaving what M\u00e9t\u00e9o-France described on Friday as a \u201cvery unstable snow cover\u201d, particularly above 1,800 to 2,000 metres.<\/p>\n
Although the red alert was lifted, the risk level remained at four out of five, officially \u201chigh\u201d, with avalanches \u201ceasily triggered by skiers or hikers\u201d and capable of mobilising \u201cvery large volumes of snow\u201d.<\/p>\n
![\"Val](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/cd683f11b8219be5aae6402ae4f5cb16.jpeg\"\/)
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The upmarket French ski resort of Val d\u2019Is\u00e8re<\/p>\n
The Val d\u2019Is\u00e8re<\/a> tourist office offered its \u201csincere condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims\u201d. It also recommended that skiers \u201cstay in the safe and marked areas\u201d of the resort.<\/p>\n Authorities also advised against off-piste activities, ski touring and snowshoeing, and urged tourists to \u201cstrictly follow\u201d instructions provided by professionals and the ski patrol services.<\/p>\n The deaths follow a day of maximum avalanche alert that saw several ski resorts, notably Tignes and La Plagne, partially or entirely closed their ski areas and impose curfews.<\/p>\n Jean Revial, the mayor of Tignes, took the rare step of ordering residents and holidaymakers to remain indoors from 11pm to 6am as Savoie was placed on red alert for avalanches.<\/p>\n The resort is 78 per cent full and hosting some 20,000 visitors at the height of the school holidays, with pedestrian traffic curtailed between certain villages.<\/p>\n In a separate incident on Friday morning in nearby Tignes, a 23-year-old British skier survived what mountain police described as a near-impossible ordeal.<\/p>\n An avalanche struck shortly after the Val d\u2019Is\u00e8re slide, burying the young man beneath one and a half metres of snow as he skied off-piste with friends.<\/p>\n Equipped with an avalanche victim detector, he was located rapidly and dug out within 10 minutes by ski patrollers before being transported to Bourg-Saint-Maurice.<\/p>\n \u201cYou could say he\u2019s a miracle survivor,\u201d the CRS Alpes mountain rescue police told ICI Pays de Savoie. Life expectancy when buried under snow is commonly estimated at around 15 minutes. He was found conscious and unharmed.<\/p>\n In La Plagne, where more than 1.6 metres of snow fell, the ski area was shut entirely on Thursday.<\/p>\n Videos shared on social media show blizzards hammering the Alps<\/a>, with large parts of resorts shut because of the snowstorms.<\/p>\n Maximum avalanche risk alert<\/p>\n Slopes in Val Thorens are closed after authorities issued a maximum level 5 avalanche risk alert for the weekend. Avalanche canons have been going off to prevent further catastrophes, residents say.<\/p>\n A maximum avalanche alert has also been set in Savoie due to the endless snowfall in Bonneval-sur-Arc.<\/p>\n