Barbegazi
Barbegazi (French barbe glacée, 'frozen beard') are Swiss/French Alpine snow gnomes. Small, white-furred, with flat feet used as skis, they inhabit high Alpine caves. They warn of avalanches with hooting cries, round up lost sheep, dig out snow-trapped victims. Generally helpful but defensive. Aestivate in glacial crevasses. Documented by Disney (1870) and Alpine oral tradition.