By contrast to buildings situated in valley bottoms, high mountain huts may be threatened by strenuous avalanche activity. This poses specific engineering difficulties currently overlooked in the avalanche literature. The present study gives a summary of the methodology proposed by Irstea to address the problem of avalanche hazard in the area of the Pavé lake in the French Alps, and the resulting recommendations for the location of the new hut planned and its protection. This expert appraisal work was conducted by Irstea at the request of the Federation Française des Clubs Alpins et de Montagne (FFCAM) in charge of the management and maintenance of more than 100 mountain huts, mostly in the Alps and the Pyrenees. The Pavé lake is located at around 2800 m.a.s.l. in the Ecrins mountain range in the French Alps and is surrounded by the Pavé and Gaspard peaks. Well documented historical data on past avalanches remains extremely scarce in such a remote area essentially frequented for high mountain recreation activities. The aim of the present study is to provide an outline of the main steps of the expert appraisal work provided by Irstea.