The last week of March has been a bad one in the European Alps with numerous, large avalanches in France and Switzerland claiming up to a dozen lives in total.  New snow formed slabs and a relatively shallow snowpack have been the primary environmental factors associated with these avalanche accidents that have buries these skiers and climbers.

For more information on the Swiss avalanche this weekend (3/26-27) near the Grand St. Bernard Pass, check out  the news feed here and one report  here.

The other deadly avalanches in the Alps were reported in France and Switzerland  between the 13th and 20th of March.   For more information check this report from Switzerland or the news from Chamonix here.

Hopefully an educational video with permission given by the family and friends of the missing person who perished in this slab avalanche on Mont du Vallon near Meribel, France on March 18th, 2011.

The person who created the avalanche can be seen in the very top left of the first photo. There are other onlookers on the ridge directly above where the skier got caught up and also one other person skiing who was near the bottom when the snow stopped... do not confuse this skier with the person who is now missing at the time of the upload three days after the accident.