A 60-year-old mountain guide was leading a group of five other skiers when they were caught by an avalanche in an off-piste sector of the La Plagne resort in the Savoie region around midday (1100 GMT) at an altitude of 2,600 metres (8,500 feet), the Savoie prefecture said.

The guide died of cardiac arrest later Friday in hospital.

A 50-year-old woman, also in the group, was being treated for multiple injuries, while two others were lightly injured.

A second avalanche occurred hours later near the village of Valloire beneath Mount Jovet, at 2,300 metres altitude.

Four cross-country skiers were swept away by the avalanche. One of them suffered cardiac arrest and could not be resuscitated. Two others were slighty injured.

Meanwhile a 40-year-old Italian cross-country skier was seriously injured in another avalanche, near Montgenevre, the local gendarmerie said.

All the avalanches happened in areas considered to be low-risk, but weather conditions in recent days had made the situation treacherous, authorities warned.

"Low risk does not mean no risk," the Savoie gendarmerie said.