Avalanches on slopes

“Unfortunately, there is no such thing as 100 percent safety”

An avalanche reached an open ski slope in the Hintertux Glacier ski area.

(Bild: Hintertuxer Gletscher)

In very rare cases, such as on Friday in Hintertux, avalanches occur on open ski slopes. There was even one fatality in such an incident in Tyrol a few years ago.

Looking back to last Friday: In the Hintertux Glacier ski area, a ski instructor (21) was - as reported - skiing with three children aged between 10 and 12 on piste 17b, which was not closed. Suddenly, an avalanche ten meters wide and 30 meters long descended onto the slope and caught the ski instructor and one of the children. The Swiss child was partially buried, but the ski instructor was able to dig him out unharmed within a very short time. The German was also uninjured and the piste was closed as a result.

Avalanches on open ski slopes in Tyrol happen occasionally - but at most once or twice in a season. There are also winters without such incidents.

Viktor Horvath, Leiter der Tiroler Alpinpolizei

Bild: Christof Birbaumer Kronenzeitung

Report to the public prosecutor's office
"We have investigated the incident and a report will be sent to the public prosecutor's office," says Viktor Horvath, head of the Tyrolean Alpine Police. "We are investigating whether there is an initial suspicion of endangering physical safety," says Hansjörg Mayr, spokesman for the Innsbruck public prosecutor's office.

In Tyrolean ski resorts, the local avalanche commissions generally make recommendations as to whether a piste can be opened or not. "The operations manager adheres to this," says cable car director Andreas Kleinlercher from the Stubai Glacier. In precarious avalanche situations, the commission assesses the current situation on an ongoing basis.

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

Swede died in Ischgl in 2012
According to one of the top cable car operators in Tyrol, Reinhard Klier, avalanches on open ski slopes are "absolutely exceptional cases". However, despite all the care taken, they cannot be completely ruled out. In fact, one such accident in Ischgl in 2012 claimed the life of a Swede (51). The slope on which the avalanche caught the skier was not closed. However, the cable car company was not at fault.

Dealing with natural hazards in Tyrol is challenging, but we have achieved a very high standard of safety.

Reinhard Klier, Tirols oberster Seilbahner in der Wirtschaftskammer

"Dealing with natural hazards in Tyrol is challenging, but we have achieved a very high standard of safety. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as 100 percent safety," says cable car boss Klier.

"Just a powder snow slide"
The Zillertal Gletscherbahn only announced on Tuesday morning in response to an inquiry from the "Krone" on Monday that last Friday was not an avalanche, not a snow slab, but a powder snow slide with a snow depth of approx. 40 cm. The Gletscherbahn also said: "We learned about the snow slide from the Tyrol control center and also that no measures were necessary and that no people were injured, buried, etc.... We then went to the site and closed the piste due to the poor weather and visibility conditions. The piste was reopened regularly on Saturday after the safety work and the assessment of the avalanche commission, as were all the other pistes. The avalanche safety in the ski area is continuously assessed by the responsible avalanche commission, i.e. several times a day, as in this specific case, in the event of prolonged heavy snowfall."

According to the police statement, it was indeed an avalanche with a partially buried child and a sequence of events as described at the beginning of this article.