2024-04-01 19:59:26
The Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) in Davos warned of “very large and in some cases extremely large spontaneous avalanches” on Easter Monday.
Skiers on Riffelberg near Zermatt, where a large avalanche fell on Monday. Recorded on January 16, 2012.
Jean-Christophe Bott / Keystone
Lots of fresh snow and hurricane-force winds have caused a significant risk of avalanches in southern Alpine regions in Austria and Switzerland.
In Zermatt, a large avalanche broke out outside the marked slopes early on Monday followingnoon. The Valais cantonal police announced this on X. Several people were swept away. On Monday evening, the Valais cantonal police reported that three people were dead. One person was injured. The police initially did not provide any information regarding the identity or condition of the injured person. Because there were no reports of missing persons, the rescuers assumed that there were no other people under the snow, as Zermatt’s rescue chief told the newspaper “Blick”. The search has been suspended for the time being.
Avalanche on Riffelberg – the balance of the avalanche event in the evening is 3 dead and 1 injured person. The search has been suspended for today. Info to follow.
— Police Wallis (@PolizeiWallis) April 1, 2024
“The demolition took place below the Hotel Riffelberg in the variant area,” a Valais police officer told the NZZ on Monday followingnoon. It was assumed that at least three people were missing. These assumptions are based on videos that were leaked to the police. It was later said that more people may have been swept away by the masses of snow. Anjan Truffer, head of the Zermatt mountain rescue service, told “SRF” following the search operation ended on Monday that he did not expect any more people to be buried. However, this cannot be completely ruled out.
“We don’t yet know anything regarding the possible victims, but we are currently assuming that they were skiing and/or snowboarding,” said the police officer. This would also possibly mean that they were not carrying any tracking devices with them, which would make the search more difficult as there are currently “abnormal masses of snow” at the location of the avalanche cone.
The police use variant area to describe terrain on which experienced skiers normally ski in deep snow outside of the marked and controlled ski slopes. This is where most avalanche accidents happen. Many off-piste skiers carry avalanche detection devices with them, which send a signal even meters deep under the snow. There are also avalanche airbags that, when inflated, ensure that skiers do not end up so deeply under the masses of snow.
According to “Walliser Bote” it was a closed wildlife sanctuary. The avalanche did not reach the slope.
At the time of the avalanche, danger level 4 prevailed in large parts of the canton of Valais and Zermatt, which is the second highest level. “In the videos you can see that the people were outside the marked slopes despite the warnings. “That’s incomprehensible to me,” said the Valais cantonal police officer. You can warn every day, but if people ignore the warnings, you are powerless somewhere. “What exactly happened is still speculation. However, we currently suspect that it was not the people who triggered the avalanche, but that there was a natural avalanche.” After that, the winter sports enthusiasts “had no chance” and the demolition “hit them hard”.
The former head of Zermatt mountain rescue and current head of Mattertal avalanche monitoring, Bruno Jelk, told SRF that several people had driven into the very steep slope, away from the piste. Several traces can be seen. The search is difficult and might take longer because it is a large avalanche. You have to search until you are sure that there is no one left under the masses of snow.
A video on social networks shows the demolition on Riffelberg:
Images of the avalanche descent #Zermatt #Riffelberg
📹 Bron; Pomona Media 🇨🇭 pic.twitter.com/dsRTEn40ZD— Johanns (Alpen)weer (@Alpenweerman) April 1, 2024
Avalanche on Riffelberg near Zermatt
SLF warns of extremely large spontaneous avalanches
On Easter Monday there was a high risk of avalanches in Austria in the southern Ötztal Alps and in the central Stubai Alps, as well as in parts of Graubünden and Valais in Switzerland and in South Tyrol in Italy. “Very large and occasionally extremely large spontaneous avalanches are to be expected,” said the Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) in Davos on Easter Monday. The Tyrol avalanche report spoke of a “sometimes critical avalanche situation”, with particular dangers above the tree line.
Avalanche bulletin SLF
Risk of avalanches (danger level)
There had been a lot of fresh snow at higher altitudes in the previous days. The strong wind caused large accumulations of drifting snow, which are particularly prone to triggering, as was stated in all descriptions of the situation. Spontaneous avalanches at altitude might also sweep away wet old snow at medium altitudes.
#Snowfall, #Regen and #Föhnsturm: You can find an update on the warning situation (level 4 or 3) in the Meteoblog under Die #Avalanche danger is common in the south high (level 4) Also #Flood becomes a topic (level 2). Pictures: Meteo report pic.twitter.com/6n6JEE6lDB
— MeteoSchweiz (@meteoschweiz) March 31, 2024
Avalanche experts monitored the situation in the ski areas in order to close endangered ski slopes. Ski tourers who are outside the marked pistes are at greater risk. In Switzerland, fourteen people died in twelve avalanche accidents in the winter of 2023/24 by the end of March. According to a balance sheet from the SLF, a total of 194 people were caught in avalanches in 146 accidents. Most of the victims were ski tourers.
Due to the high risk of avalanches, the Furkastrasse in the canton of Uri has also been closed since Sunday evening. The Furka car transport between Oberwald and Realp is also closed. According to the Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn, the situation will be reassessed on Tuesday morning.
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#Avalanche #sweeps #people #Riffelberg #Zermatt
