While the alpine racing season will still last two and a half months, these have already caused as many deaths as in 2018. In addition, according to statistics provided by the cantonal police, the victims of mountain accidents are the mostly foreigners.
More than 60% of foreign victims per year
Among the sixteen deaths this season until mid-August, thirteen victims are foreigners and three are Swiss, including only one from Valais. This disparity has also been observed in recent years, with foreign victims representing between 65% and 76% of total deaths between 2018 and 2022, except in 2020, a year marked by the Covid, with therefore a much smaller presence of foreign mountaineers due to health restrictions. They therefore represented only 41% of the twelve deaths of this particular year.
The good weather partly explains the number of accidents, according to a press release from the Valais cantonal police and the Swiss Association of Mountain Guides (ASGM). With the very favorable weather this season, a strong increase in visits to the alpine peaks has been noticed.
We also learn that many accident victims are unroped people, alone or in small groups of two or three people. This is why the police and the ASGM send a message of prevention.
More complicated prevention with foreigners
“There are three pillars for doing prevention,” explains Pierre Mathey, secretary general of ASGM. “First of all, information in the media and the active prevention of the cantonal police play an important role. Secondly, we invite people to get information and training, for example in mountaineering schools or at the Alpine Club. The third pillar is to practice with a mountain guide.”
People should make the effort to pick a race because it’s doable, not because it’s in a prestigious location.
Pierre MatheySecretary General of the Swiss Association of Mountain Guides
The challenge of prevention is to also affect people outside the canton and foreigners. The latter are more difficult to reach, in particular because of the language barrier. “Doing prevention with foreigners in the summer is a real question,” admits Pierre Mathey. “One of the big sources is local hut keepers and guide offices. Still, people have to ask the question.”
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He adds that accidents are mainly due to a lack of knowledge of mountaineering, rather than a willingness to take reckless risks. “An essential point is that people must make the effort to choose a race because it is practicable and not because it is in a prestigious place”, insists Pierre Mathey.