Two mountain climbers, two skiers killed in French Alps

Two mountain climbers, two skiers killed in French Alps{mosimage}GRENOBLE, France – Two mountain climbers and two skiers died in the French Alps on Sunday during a weekend with high avalanche risk, rescue services said. Two other people were still missing.

Near the Courchevel ski station, an American from California was killed by an avalanche as he skied off-piste, rescue services said. The victim was identified as Ajay Tambe, a 42-year-old Indian-born man from Cupertino, California.

The bodies of two mountain climbers were discovered at the base of a climb on the Mont Blanc mountain and it was unclear whether they fell or were victims of an avalanche, rescue services said. Both were foreigners, but rescuers declined to provide further details on their identities.

At the Valoire station, a woman in her 50s who was skiing off-piste was trapped by an avalanche and died soon after being transported to a hospital. Her identity was not released.

In the same station, rescuers were searching for a missing snowboarder. Another skier was missing in the small station of Saint-Colomban-les-Vilards.
France’s national weather service had declared this weekend a high-risk weekend for avalanches in parts of the French Alps, with a warning level of four out of five.

– The Associated Press