The man was part of a trio who went off piste in the Alpe d’Huez ski resort. A second skier also fell and was injured in the “steep and icy conditions”. The third man was unharmed, and both have now been rescued.
A spokesperson for the gendarme mountain rescue unit in Grenoble said the three men had got into difficulty after they went the wrong way and took off their skis in an attempt to climb upwards.
The UK Foreign Office said it was giving support to the family of the man who died.
The accident came after another tragedy in the French Alps at the weekend, when a 12-year-old boy died after also falling off a cliff while skiing with his 10-year-old brother, who survived.
The siblings are understood to have strayed off piste while in the Avorias ski resort.