The man was part of a group being led by two guides on a trail in Le Monetier-les-Bains, around 100 kilometres east of Grenoble, when the avalanche started on a slope about 100 metres above them.
One of the guides sustained minor injuries and was hospitalised, local prosecutor Raphael Balland said.
According to France's national snow and avalanche research association ANENA, six people have been killed and one other has disappeared in avalanches so far this winter.
Last year the association recorded 37 avalanche deaths.
READ ALSO: Two climbers killed by falling rocks in French Alps
Member comments