 Off piste skiers are advised to carry avalanche transceivers. |
A series of avalanches has fallen across the European Alps this week, killing at least 10 skiers and leaving many others buried in the snow. Seven people have been killed in France and three in Germany.
It follows the deaths of 15 people in the ice rink disaster in the German town of Bad Reichenhall last Monday.
Two people in Austria have frozen to death in the coldest spell of the winter.
The snow has brought chaos to large parts of the European Alps, with roads and railways blocked and tens of thousands of people without electricity in parts of Austria and Germany.
Death on the slopes
In Courchevel, a resort popular with British skiers, an American was killed when an avalanche caught him in full view of people on a nearby chairlift.
Despite efforts to find him he was buried for 20 minutes before rescue services found his body.
People have a 90% survival rate if found within the first 15 minutes, then the chance of living falls sharply.
In Tignes, another resort favoured by the British, four people were avalanched but managed to dig themselves out, while nearby a father and son were buried under a metre of snow for 10 minutes but other skiers who saw the incident rescued them in time.
At Christmas a British medical student, Rafe Hattaway, died in the neighbouring resort of Val D'Isere while snowboarding with his brother.
All the deaths involved people skiing outside the marked runs and in one fatal incident in the Savoie region this week a skier fell 80 metres over a cliff after he and three friends climbed over a safety barrier that had been built to prevent skiers going into the area .
The three survivors are now being questioned by police.
The reason people ski in these areas is to find untracked fresh snow but many simply do not understand the dangers.
Safety measures
"It is amazing how stupid some skiers and snowboarders are," says Betony Garner from the Ski Club of Great Britain.
"The avalanche risk has been very high and yet still people go off piste without the right equipment and training."
The Ski Club advises everyone who goes off piste to have an avalanche transceiver, a shovel and a probe.
The transceiver sends out a signal that helps the victim to be found underneath the snow.
"It was cold last week and it snowed a lot, then warmed up and continued snowing," said Michael Staudinger, the head of the avalanche warning service in Salzburg, Austria.
"This raised the snow's density and hence its weight." Slushy snow weighs three times more than powder snow.
This weight has brought down power lines and trees leaving 12,000 people without electricity in Germany and 18,000 in Austria.
The Zell valley has snow throughout the region with snowdrifts blocking roads and railway lines.
"Many thousands of our holiday makers had their journeys disrupted by the weather," Katie Joly, the manager for Crystal holidays in France and Switzerland, told the BBC News website.
"Some flights had to be cancelled and others delayed but fortunately all our clients eventually completed their journey."
Optimistic outlook
Despite the tragedies, the conditions have brought the best snow conditions seen by skiers over the New Year for many seasons.
Austria and Germany have the best of the snow with some of the lesser known resorts in Switzerland like Engleberg and Wengen doing well.
"If you ski safely and in the right places then the conditions really are quite fantastic," says Jane Hartley from the British travel agent, Erna Low.
"There is now a good base and with the cold weather preserving the snow Europe could have a bumper season ahead."
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The avalanche risk has been very high and yet still people go off piste without the right equipment and training
