Europe’s mounting avalanche loss of life toll: How 86 have already perished underneath unstoppable partitions of snow this 12 months with no less than 4 Brits amongst victims as file downfalls bury unique ski resorts

Europe’s avalanche crisis is escalating, with 86 people including at least four Brits killed this season as severe snowfall and unstable mountain conditions wreak havoc across the Alps and beyond.

France has recorded the highest toll so far with 25 deaths, followed by Italy with 21 and Austria with 14, while Switzerland has lost nine and Spain eight.

Slovakia reported four deaths and Slovenia three, with a single death in Andorra.

The vast majority of victims were caught in wind slab avalanches or collapses linked to persistent weak layers buried deep within the snow, often triggered after fresh downfalls.

Most were skiing off piste or travelling in backcountry terrain, with others killed while mountaineering, climbing or hiking.

At least four Brits have been killed by avalanches this season, with the latest tragedy taking place on Tuesday, when a British man died in the Alps after an avalanche hit a group of five off-piste skiers and their guide near a French resort. 

The slide struck the Côte Fine couloir in La Grave on Tuesday morning.

Two skiers were found in cardiorespiratory arrest and later pronounced dead, according to Marion Lozac’Hmeur, Public Prosecutor of Gap.

Zoom into the map below to view where the avalanche deaths occurred 

One man, born in 1987, was Polish. The other, born in 1989, was a British national originally from Poland who lived in Switzerland.

The deaths come just days after two other British skiers as well as a French national were killed in an avalanche in the upmarket French Alpine resort of Val d’Isere on Friday.

The Brits were named as Stuart Leslie, 46, and 51-year-old Shaun Overy.

Emergency services responded quickly but could not save their lives, a resort official said, noting that all of the victims had avalanche transceivers.

This unfolded less than 24 hours after the Savoie region was placed on a rare red avalanche alert – a warning level issued only twice before in the 25 years since its introduction.

Although the alert had been lifted by Friday morning, the risk remained at four out of five – officially ‘high’ – with avalanches ‘easily triggered by skiers or hikers’ and capable of mobilising ‘very large volumes of snow’.

Two skiers also died over the weekend after being buried in the snow following an off-trail avalanche in Italy, close to the borders with France and Switzerland.

At least three skiers were caught up in Sunday morning’s avalanche on the Mont Blanc massif.

The tragedy occurred in the Couloir Vesses, a well-known freeride route in Courmayeur, in upper Val Veny, according to Italy’s Alpine Rescue.

A record 13 backcountry skiers, climbers and hikers died in the Italian mountains during the first week of February, Alpine Rescue reported last Monday, including 10 in avalanches triggered by an exceptionally unstable snowpack.

Earlier this month on February 7, three people were killed by avalanches while skiing off-piste in mountains close to where the Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games are taking place.

The Alpine rescue service said they recovered a man’s body after two avalanches hit the Marmolada area in the Dolomites, not far from Cortina d’Ampezzo. 

Another two off-piste skiers died in Albosaggia, a village in the lower Valtellina valley, some 40 miles east of Bormio.

The deaths came just days after another avalanche in the Trentino Alto Adige region killed two Finnish skiers.

And last month, an Englishman, believed to be in his 50s was reportedly amongst six skiers killed in avalanches over the weekend of the 11th, after skiing off-piste at the La Plagne resort in south-eastern France.

Rescue teams received an avalanche alert at 1.57pm on Sunday and immediately went to the site, the resort said.

The man was located after 50 minutes buried under eight feet of snow, but could not be revived.

His death came during a weekend marked by several avalanches across the Alps following several days of heavy snow. 

Amongst other victims that weekend were three skiers killed in the Savoie region after being caught in avalanches in Val-d’Isère and the Arêches-Beaufort resort.

A female skier also died in Austria on January 11 after being buried by an avalanche on Weerberg mountain in the Schwaz district of Tyrol, while a man in Italy was killed by an avalanche above the northern city of Aosta on January 10.

On January 13 a Czech child was tragically killed by an avalanche while skiing off-piste in the Austrian alpine resort of Bad Gastein

And on January 18, eight skiers died after three avalanches struck across Austria in the space of just four hours.

Beginning on Monday of this week, severe snowfall across Switzerland and parts of northern Italy has created mounting issues. 

Tourists have been ordered to leave parts of the Italian and Swiss Alps after extreme snowfall and increasing avalanche risks forced authorities to evacuate villages and shut down entire areas. 

Regional media report that up to 40 centimetres of fresh snow has fallen, significantly increasing the danger of avalanches.

The second highest warning level is now in effect across the region, and heavy snowfall is forecast to continue today.

The situation is especially serious in Italy’s Piedmont region, leading the regional government to put out a municipal decree ordering the prompt evacuation of Rochemolles, a tourism dependent town, Bild reports.

Around 40 people, including both residents and tourists, were told to leave. Some found their own accommodation, while others were placed in nearby hotels.

Alongside snowfall, danger has also come from severe winds approaching hurricane-level force.

According to the regional environmental agency ARPA Piemont, gusts of up to 189 kilometres per hour were recorded at the Gran Vaudala weather station in Ceresole Reale, Italy which sits at an altitude of 3,272 meters.

Forecasters have warned that conditions may worsen further.