British skier dies in 600m fall in French Alps

A Scottish holiday-maker died on Tuesday after plunging 600 metres (1,970 feet) while skiing in the French Alps, mountain rescue officials said.

The man, aged about 30, was skiing with a friend around mid-day at a height of about 3,100 metres (10,170 feet) at the summit of Mont Buet in the Giffre massif.

"He passed through a ledge of snow and fell 600 metres on the north face," a rescue worker said.

His fellow skier, another Scotsman also aged about 30, avoided the fall and was unharmed.

Police had opened an investigation to determine the cause of the accident.

THe map below shows the area of the French Alps where the accident occured. The letter A marks Mont Buet.

At the weekend two skiers including a teenager died in the Pyrenees in separate skiing accidents.

Earlier this month The Local Switzerland reported how two British skiers died in a matter of days in the Swiss Alps, including a 65-year-old man in the canton of Valais.