The road between Hospental and Realp in the canton of Uri had to be closed this week after heavy snowfall due to the risk of avalanches.
Archivbild: Urs Flueeler/KEYSTONE/dpa
The risk of avalanches remains high in the Alps after persistent snowfall. In Switzerland, Austria and northern Italy, several people have been killed by avalanches in recent days.
Heavy snowfall and rain have led to an explosive avalanche situation in the Alps. In Austria alone, seven winter sports enthusiasts have died under masses of snow since Friday. On the Arlberg and in Sölden, numerous lifts and pistes were closed on Sunday due to the risk of avalanches. According to experts, the onset of warm weather will not ease the situation.
Emergency services and helpers stand by a truck in St. Anton am Arlberg.
Archivbild: Keystone
“There can be no question of that in the next few days,” said a spokesperson for the Salzburg Avalanche Warning Center. All winter sports enthusiasts have been urged to stay on the slopes and not to go off-piste under any circumstances. Over the past few days, around half a meter of snow has fallen across the country.
Two victims in Switzerland within a week
On Tuesday afternoon, a 49-year-old man was killed by an avalanche while skiing with his 15-year-old son in Parsonz GR. The two were skiing off the marked piste.
Several people were skiing down an off-piste slope next to a ski lift, the cantonal police of Graubünden wrote on Thursday. When an avalanche broke loose, it buried the father-son duo underneath it.
The snowboarder was skiing off-piste in the Parsenn ski area last weekend when he was buried by an avalanche.
Bild: Keystone
Last Sunday, a 38-year-old snowboarder was caught in an avalanche in Davos GR and fatally buried. The accident occurred off the marked pistes in the Parsenn area.
High avalanche danger in eastern Switzerland
MeteoSwiss warns of a high avalanche risk, especially in Graubünden. The danger situation also remains considerable in Ticino, Valais and parts of central Switzerland.
The rising temperatures in the coming days will not ease the avalanche danger. The forecast for Monday is a mild 11 to 14 degrees. In the south, spring-like temperatures of 15 to 16 degrees are expected. Experts are urgently warning against tours away from secured pistes.
The risk of avalanches is particularly high in eastern Switzerland.
Screenshot: MeteoSchweiz
Rain up to high altitudes in Bavaria
In the south of Bavaria, the German Weather Service (DWD) is expecting plus degrees for altitudes up to 2000 meters and thus thawing weather. Above 1600 meters, the avalanche danger is still high, below that even considerable, according to the Bavarian Avalanche Warning Service on Saturday evening. The main problems are fresh snow and rain, some of which is falling up to an altitude of 1800 meters and weakening the snow cover. Avalanches could be triggered by even a small additional load and also hit exposed paths.
Snow chaos also in Slovenia and Hungary
Other regions also had to contend with the consequences of heavy snowfall. In Slovenia, almost 30,000 households were without electricity on Saturday. Installation teams from all over the country were trying to get the disabled transformers up and running again, according to reports. As the snowfall subsided, the situation began to normalize on Sunday, the media reported.
Heavy snowfall was also reported in the west of Hungary. In the small town of Köszeg, 36 centimetres of fresh snow were measured on Friday, in Sopron on the border with Austria 27 centimetres on Saturday, according to the Hungarian weather service HungaroMet. Strong gusts of wind also caused snow drifts in the affected area. The precipitation largely subsided on Sunday, according to local media reports.
Austria once again an avalanche hotspot
Dozens of avalanches have occurred in Austria since Friday. Two winter sports enthusiasts were killed again on Saturday. According to the police, a 41-year-old man was caught in a snow slab off-piste in Serfaus in Tyrol. The Austrian was able to be dug out from a depth of around two and a half meters, but later died in hospital.
Up to 40 centimetres of fresh snow had recently fallen in Tyrol. The avalanche situation remains acute.
Archivbild: -/BERGRETTUNG SALZBURG/APA/dpa
A 21-year-old Slovakian was buried by a snow slab in the Wölzer Tauern in Styria, as reported by the authorities. He died under the masses of snow.
Father and son swept away by snow slab
Five people had previously lost their lives. In St. Anton am Arlberg, a US citizen, a Pole and a 21-year-old Austrian were killed by a huge slab of snow that swept almost a kilometer into the valley.
According to the police, a 42-year-old skier from Thuringia was caught and killed by an avalanche off-piste in the Tyrolean ski resort of Nauders. His 16-year-old son survived seriously injured. The two were trying to cross a north-facing slope when an approximately 400-metre-wide snow slab broke loose and swept both skiers around 200 to 300 meters. Another avalanche fatality was reported by the police in Fiss in Tyrol. The 71-year-old Dutchman was not wearing an avalanche transceiver, which can make it easier to find him in an emergency.
In Austria, 20 people have already died in avalanches this season. This means that the average number of avalanche victims for the entire winter season has already been reached.
Body of missing tourist found in the Tatra Mountains
In the High Tatras, Slovakian rescuers found the body of a missing tourist after several days of searching. A spokesperson for the Polish mountain rescue service told the PAP news agency that all indications were that the body was that of a 30-year-old man who had been missing in the border region with Poland since last week.
The man had taken the cable car up the Kasprowy Wierch mountain on February 14, as surveillance camera footage showed. His trail then disappeared. A search operation started on Wednesday with sniffer dogs and helicopters led the rescuers to an avalanche area on Thursday. Due to poor weather conditions, the rescue operation had to be aborted in the meantime. There have already been four avalanche deaths in the High Tatras in the past two weeks.
With the onset of thawing weather in the region, the Polish mountain rescue service currently classifies the avalanche risk as moderate. The snow cover is only poorly connected to the ground on steep slopes. An avalanche triggering is possible in some places with a large additional load, but a spontaneous release of larger avalanches is unlikely, it said.
Hamlets in France cut off from the outside world
In the northern French Alps, several avalanches in the Oisans massif (Isère) isolated two hamlets on Saturday. In Allemond, near Alpe d’Huez, the only access road was buried for over a kilometer by an exceptionally strong avalanche. The road is the only access to one of the hamlets, which is now completely cut off from the outside world.
In Articol, a violent avalanche buried several vehicles under large masses of snow and fallen trees. According to the authorities, no one was injured and the avalanche came to a halt at the entrance to the village.
Romania struggles with masses of snow
Heavy snowfall was also recorded in the south-eastern European country of Romania. As a result, there were delays at both airports in the capital Bucharest on Saturday morning. On Sunday morning, meteorologists measured up to 36 centimetres of fresh snow in Bucharest. Up to 1.8 meters of snow fell in the Carpathian mountains, reported the news portal “hotnews.ro”.
In the village of Vadu Parului, 80 kilometers north of Bucharest, the masses of snow caused the roof of a stable to collapse. 30 sheep and goats died as a result, the news agency Mediafax reported, citing the local fire department.