Switzerland
Three people died in an avalanche in Zermatt
Experts had warned of avalanches because of the fresh snow over Easter and strong winds – then it happened in Zermatt. Any help came too late for three people.
The police, together with a large contingent, had been searching for missing people for hours. The avalanche occurred in the Riffelberg ski area in the early afternoon – according to the police, in a variant area. This is terrain where experienced skiers normally ski in deep snow outside of the marked and controlled ski slopes.
Experts warned of the danger of avalanches in Zermatt
The Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (WLF) warned of a high risk of avalanches on Monday morning. “Very large and occasionally extremely large spontaneous avalanches are to be expected,” it said. There was also a great danger of avalanches in Tyrol in Austria and in South Tyrol. The reasons for this were a lot of fresh snow and sometimes hurricane-force winds, which caused large accumulations of drifting snow. According to the avalanche warning services, these are particularly susceptible to failure.
If the ski slopes are marked, ski area experts ensure that they are closed if there is a risk of avalanches. Outside the marked pistes, ski tourers must assess the danger themselves. In Switzerland, 14 people died in twelve avalanche accidents in the winter of 2023/24 by the end of March.