Two skiers were caught in an avalanche at an altitude of 2,300 metres (7,545 feet) at about noon local time (1100 GMT) in Piedmont near the border with France.

They were freed by other skiers but one of them, the German woman, was dead when a rescue helicopter arrived.

A French skier was caught in another avalanche a few kilometres to the north at Bobbio Pellice, near Turin.

The alarm was raised via a GPS device and another Frenchman who was skiing with him reached a mountain refuge and described what had happened.

But the first skier was dead by the time rescuers arrived.

Heavy snowfall around Christmas, followed by milder temperatures and strong winds, may have contributed to triggering the avalanches, a rescue spokesperson said.

A 50-year-old Italian mountaineer died on Friday morning in the Dolomites in northeast Italy when he was swept away by an avalanche while hiking with a friend.