Earth Changes
Local authorities had already warned Friday of unstable snow formations given a recent falloff in temperatures.
The first avalanche occurred late morning at Valloire, a village close to the 2,642-metre (8,670 foot) Col du Galibier mountain, killing four local people aged between 42 and 76.
They were among a five-strong group of walkers one of whom was found safe and well by rescuers after two helicopters were scrambled.

Authorities previously reported the death of nearly 300 endangered seals on Dagestan's Caspian shore in December 2020.
"These are the dead animals that we saw, photographed and whose GPS coordinates we noted," Viktor Nikiforov of the Moscow Marine Mammals research centre told the AFP news agency on Thursday.
Images shared with the AFP showed several seal carcasses washed up on the beach.
The deaths may have been caused by "industrial pollution, fishing or poaching when seals get caught in the nets", Nikiforov said.
The incident took place on Thursday evening, when the victims, including three sisters, were at their paddy field near Bichhli village under Kelhari police station area, an official said.
The deceased include Jailal Khairwar (45), his two daughters Pramila (20) and Subhadra (15) and son-in-law Bhupendra (25), he said.
Khairwar's son Surajbhan and daughter Budhhi sustained burn injuries in the incident, the official added.
On being alerted, a police team rushed to the spot and bodies were sent for post-mortem, he said, adding that the injured are undergoing treatment at the district hospital in Baikunthpur.
Source:PTI
Indonesia's Sinabung volcano erupts, spewing massive column of smoke and ash up to 2,800 metres high
The volcano in North Sumatra province started belching ash and volcanic material at 9 am and the eruption lasted almost six minutes, a local geological agency said.
Images showed a thick column of ash spewing from the inside of Sinabung towards the east.














Comment: Details of the other fatalities: Five killed in two snow avalanches in the French Alps
Some footage of the recent snowfall in the district of Savoie: