Snowboarder suffocated after headfirst fall in drift

‘He was spotted by two witnesses skiing nearby who noticed a snowboard sticking out of the snow’

A BRITISH snowboarder suffocated after falling headfirst into a snow drift in the Alps.

The 25-year-old man, who was working a season in the resort of Meribel, was found in an off-piste area of the Allues area.

It is believed he was unable to release himself from his board, and could have been buried for 30 minutes before he was discovered.

A spokesman for the Alps mountain rescue service said it was difficult to say how long he may have been stuck, but estimated it could have been half an hour. He said: “The snowboarder was alone when he fell. He was spotted by two witnesses skiing nearby who noticed a snowboard sticking out of the snow about 20 metres from the piste. They then realised that someone might be attached to the board.”

He said the two witness had called for help before trying to reach the young man themselves and lift him out of the snow.

“It was very difficult for them. He was buried up to his pelvis and the snow was very heavy, very compacted.”

He added that mountain rescue service had arrived within minutes but by the time they arrived he was in cardiac arrest. He said that the incident was still being investigated, while an inquest has been opened under the jurisdiction of the nearby town of Albertville.

In January this year, Oscar Cassagneau-Francis and Rajen Mahendra, both Britons aged 26, were killed after falling hundreds of feet in an off-piste area while skiing in Chamonix-montblanc.

In February, another British skier was killed when he and two friends ran into difficulty after venturing off-piste in the Alpe d’huez ski resort region of the central French western Alps.