Mont Gele avalanche hits family
Family of four escapes avalanche
An avalanche hit a family of four off-piste skiers on Boxing Day whilst skiing on the Mont Fort in Verbier.
Shortly after midday an avalanche of 10 metres wide and 150 metres long set off on the Mont Gele at an altitude of 2900 metres, sweeping away a family of four who were skiing off-piste whilst on holiday.
The parents and the two children managed to escape the mass of the avalanche by themselves however two helicopters were called out to help with the rescue and carry out a full search of the area.
The children, a 16 year old boy and a 13 year old girl, were said to have suffered injuries and were helicoptered off to hospital in Sion.
A team of 15 ski patrol assisted with avalanche dogs carried out a full search of the area and by 2pm concluded no one else had been buried by the avalanche.
The Mont Gele had only recently opened for the season after heavy snowfall prolonged opening due to the avalanche risk, nevertheless the area has since been blasted and fully controlled by ski patrol.
