Every time a new bit of backcountry gear comes out we say the same thing. Leave it a year or two and let others test it.

The ski tourer caught by an avalanche on Monday early afternoon has succumbed to his injuries in hospital in Grenoble today.

As we mentioned on Twitter earlier ABS have announced another recall for their airbag system. This is the third recall for various faults and the second this year. This one is fairly general.

With freezing levels at 2500 meters coupled with rain today it is officially one of the worst starts to winter for 25 years; although Meteo France is more measured calling it a “once in a decade” even

Yan Giezendanner from Météo France, Chamonix is pessimistic. It is too warm in France and all the bad weather is hitting the UK and Scandinavia.

You don't need wind to create a slab but it helps. Think of it as an accellerator, like pouring petrol on a fire. Even without fresh snow wind can create new slabs in a few hours.

As we noted on twitter a large amount of fresh snow above 2000 meters and storm force winds have created considerable avalanche risk at altitude in the Pyrenees and Southern Alpes.

The 2013/2014 season saw 18 fatal avalanche incidents with 21 deaths in France. Well below the 30 year average.

La Clusaz may have opened the Balme sector of its ski area two weeks early on the 22 November but since that glorious week-end it has been a stressful start to the season for the resort director Pierr

A documentary by Arte TV covering a ski touring expedition from the Turkish frontier to the gates of Afghanistan. Crossing the mountains of Iran on skis the team discover its people.