Five Off-Piste Skiers Die in Two Avalanches in Austria
In the latest incident the mountain rescue service said it was alerted around 2pm local time.
Four people were found dead, while another suffered serious injuries.
Around an hour and a half before a female skier was buried by an avalanche in open alpine terrain near the same area.
She was skiing with her husband in Bad Hofgastein at an altitude of 2,200m.
“Our deepest sympathies go out to the families,” said Gerhard Kremser, district head of the Pongau mountain rescue service.
“This tragedy painfully demonstrates how serious the current avalanche situation is.”
Further avalanches were recorded in the Pongau region around midday, but no-one was injured.
In Switzerland there have been further fatalities.
A German man has been killed in an avalanche and four other people were hurt as they were cross-country skiing.
The incident happened on Friday, on the Piz Badus peak near the village of Tujetsch in the centre-south of the country.
Police said a group of seven cross-country skiers were swept up in the avalanche, with five of them buried underneath.
One member of the party raised the alarm in a phone call to local police, who deployed helicopters with rescue workers and dogs to the site.
The German man was found lifeless under the snow and ice, the police said.
The four others hurt – whose nationalities were not given – suffered light injuries and were flown to nearby hospitals.
Earlier a 42-year old Swiss skier died in an avalanche.
A group of four ski tourers was in the Pointe de Chemo area in the Valais municipality of Chamoson.
While they were descending the eastern flank at an altitude of around 2,500m an avalanche broke loose and swept three of them away.
The avalanche danger was Level 3 at the time, meaning there was a ‘considerable’ risk of avalanche.
After being alerted by the fourth tourer,rescue teams from the Cantonal Valais Rescue Organisation, supported by two helicopters from Air-Glaciers and an aircraft from Air Zermatt were deployed.
They were able to locate and rescue two buried people.
Despite first aid provided, a 42-year-old man died at the scene of the accident.
A 41-year-old man was injured and flown by helicopter to the Inselspital Bern.
A 53-year-old woman, who was outside the snow mass, was also injured and transported by helicopter to Sion Hospital.
All three are Swiss nationals.
The public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation.
The avalanche danger level remains ‘considerable’ (Level 3) on Sunday across large parts of the Swiss Alps.
Avalanche danger in Switzerland for Sunday 18th January. Image c/o Swiss Avalanche Institute.
The authorities are continuing to advise extreme caution of piste as the snowpack is highly unstable in places.
Of the nineteen avalanche deaths we have heard about seven happened in Austria, six in France, five in Switzerland, one in Italy.
At PlanetSKI we expect these numbers to rise.
They caught holidaymakers, a ski patroller, a former Olympic ski and a thirteen year old boy.
See here for PlanetSKI updates on the avalanche accidents since last weekend:
- 13 year old boy is latest avalanche fatality
- More avalanches in the Alps with ‘high’ risk in places
- Three dead in avalanches in France
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