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THE WOMAN, 45, WAS AIRLIFTED OFF MONT BLANC GLACIER BUT DIED OF HER INJURIES A 45-year-old British tourist died in an avalanche on Saturday (January 14) on the Mont Blanc massif in the

French Alps. Her companion and a mountain guide were also caught up in the incident but uninjured. The group was out on the Argentière glacier, one of the Mont Blanc mountain range’s biggest

glaciers, when the avalanche happened. The woman, who was believed to be ski touring at the time (hiking uphill on special skis before skiing down), was airlifted by mountain rescuers but

died of her injuries. Colonel Bertrand Host of the specialist mountain police service le Peloton de Gendarmerie de Haute-Montagne (PGHM) in Chamonix, said his team was called to the glacier

at about 17:00 on Saturday. “When we arrived she was in a bad condition and we evacuated her from the valley,” he told the PA news agency. He said that around 80 people die on the Mont Blanc

massif every year. The BBC reports that an avalanche warning risk of three on a scale of five was in place on Saturday. When contacted by _The Connexion_, a spokesperson for the PGHM said

that weather conditions had been fairly good with a slightly cloudy to overcast sky at the time. “The accident took place on the right bank of the Argentière glacier shortly before the

traverse that allows you to join the left bank of the Grands Montets ski area to return to Argentiere,” the spokesperson added. No further details about the identity of the two British

people, including the victim, were given. The public prosecutor's office in Bonneville (Haute-Savoie) has opened an investigation to determine the exact circumstances of the death and

an autopsy has been ordered. A spokesperson from the Foreign Office said it was assisting the woman’s family. Temperatures this winter, which are well above seasonal averages in much of

Europe, have seen many ski stations in France close their pistes due to a lack of snowfall. READ ALSO: SKI STATIONS IN FRANCE SEE SOME SNOW AFTER MAJOR LACK IN MILD JANUARY Melting snow can

make avalanches more likely. Warmer temperatures in recent years have also melted permafrost, raising the risk of rockfalls on the most popular Mont Blanc routes. Last August, two mountain

shelters used by Mont Blanc climbers were closed because of potentially deadly drought-related rockfalls. RELATED ARTICLES FRENCH SKI RESORT VAL THORENS POSTPONES OPENING DUE TO LACK OF SNOW

CLIMATE CHANGE: SNOW DISAPPEARING FROM ALPS, FRANCE INCLUDED GLOBAL WARMING: POPULAR PYRENEES MOUNTAIN GLACIER DISAPPEARS ENTIRELY