British skier missing as snow cripples alpine mountain areas

Lincolnshire man last seen on chairlift as famous Swiss resort closes down ski slopes

A skier has gone missing after reports of “terrible weather” in the Alps, French police have said.

John Bromell was last seen on the Paquis chairlift at 4.30pm on Sunday in Tignes, in the south-east of France.

Tignes police have said he was wearing a multi-coloured hat with a pompom and a checked jacket.

The force had been set back by adverse weather conditions in their search for the 39-year-old, of Willingham by Stow, near Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, but have since deployed a helicopter to find him.

Mr Bromell’s friend Suzannah Pearce wrote on Twitter: “A friend, John Bromell, is missing in Tignes in terrible weather. Please share in case someone knows of his welfare as his family are very concerned. Thank you.”

Meanwhile, unusually heavy snowfall and a high risk of alpine avalanches have stranded 13,000 tourists in the Swiss resort of Zermatt, at the base of the famed Matterhorn mountain.

With nearby roads, trains, cable cars, ski slopes and hiking trails into the town closed, authorities deployed helicopters to ferry some tourists to a nearby village to escape the snowbound valley.

The official said the so-called air bridge can transport about 100 people an hour, conditions permitting.

Only tourists who requested the air bridge were being ferried out, the official said, insisting it was not an official evacuation.

Bulldozers were ploughing through the snowdrifts in Zermatt so streets could be salted.

One local hotelier said authorities were setting off controlled explosions to help clear away the piled-up snow that had coated roads and rails.

Janine Imesch of the Zermatt tourism office said power has been restored after a temporary outage.

She said no people were at risk because authorities had shut down access to the nearby ski slopes and hiking trails a day earlier.

In the village, the atmosphere is relaxed,” she said.

Romy Biner, head of Zermatt town council, said the town had not seen so much snow for several years.

“It surprised us a bit this year and we’re trying to make the best of it,” Ms Biner said.

Switzerland’s WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research said at least 31.5in of snow had dropped on the Zermatt area over 24 hours.

Pictures: PA/AP. From left: photos of John Bromell, a skier who has gone missing after reports of “terrible weather” in the Alps; tourists wait in line at the heliport of Air Zermatt for a flight into the valley to Raron, the only way out of the Swiss town at the foot...

Pictures: AP. Clockwise from top: community workers remove snow off a path in Zermatt, Switzerland; snow covers houses and mountains; support staff handle tourists’ luggage at the Air Zermatt heliport.