“The snow cover is very unstable”: three deaths in five days, black series in the Mercantour park. An epidemic of accidents due to both recklessness and particular weather conditions, between rain, mild spells and cold snaps.

The 52-year-old Italian ski touring skier, who was off-piste with three friends at an altitude of 2,700 m, had just taken off his sealskin-covered skis on a cornice when he passed through a snowy ridge overlooking the void.