For the advanced skier there is no sensation like it: a day in the mountains, in the powder, floating down the untracked valley, far from the groomed piste, reports the BBC.
But this season, far too often that perfect day has ended in tragedy. In our last count, at least 24 people have died in avalanches in France and Switzerland since Christmas. A similar number have escaped, many of them with serious injuries.
In some of the most recent examples:
- On Sunday, two Danish skiers - brothers - died after being buried under 3m (10ft) of snow in Alpe d'Huez
- On Saturday, a brother and a sister were caught out skiing in the Belledonne in the Dauphine Alps. She was buried for 45 minutes, under just 20cm of snow. But her brother, who had suffered a broken femur, was unable to reach her. She died of cardiac arrest
- In Vercors range in Isere, a man was carried 500m over a rocks and small cliffs. He lost a ski but survived thanks to an emergency airbag on his back
- A climber was killed after a crevasse fall in the Vallee Blanche. The victim plunged 40m when the snow bridge he was crossing gave way
So why is it happening so often? Experts says that in some areas the fresh snow is not sticking to what is an unusually icy base layer. It is as if the new snow is sitting on ball bearings. So even the most benign slopes off-piste can slide under a skier's weight.
And of course it puts pressure on the search teams in the Alps. They are warning that this year skiers need to be extra vigilant, particularly on north-facing slopes.
Read more of this report from the BBC.