Drama long unnoticed

Two friends killed in avalanche on glacier

The rescue team dug out the winter sports enthusiasts. Unfortunately, however, any help came too late for them.(Bild: ZOOM Tirol)

Tragic details emerge after fatal avalanche accident on the Stubai Glacier in Tyrol: On Sunday evening, the two snowboarders who had been swept away by masses of snow were found buried one meter deep not far from the valley station of the glacier cable car. Due to the fog that prevailed during the day, the accident had gone unnoticed for hours.

A steep freeride descent in the open ski area on the Stubai Glacier proved fatal on Sunday for two 37-year-old snowboarders from the Innsbruck area. The accident must have happened after 1:25 p.m. "At that time, the two took the lift up again, as evidenced by their tickets," said Dominik Riedl of the Alpine Police in Neustift in the Stubai Valley.

Drones were also used 
When the friends did not return home, their relatives raised the alarm in the early evening. A large-scale search operation was launched by the Neustift mountain rescue service and the Alpine Police, and the FLIR helicopter from the Salzburg police with a thermal imaging camera was also called in. Drones were also used.

We discovered two tracks with our drone in the area of the fracture edge of a snow slab at an altitude of around 2,100 meters.

Günter Chwojan, Einsatzleiter Bergrettung Neustift im Stubaital

Bild: Privat

"The police did a cell phone triangulation and initially searched for the results of the triangulation with a drone in the area of the Dresdner Hut," said Günter Chwojan from the Neustift Mountain Rescue Service in an interview with the "Krone" newspaper. He was the head of operations together with alpine police officer Riedl.

Break edge of the snow slab discovered
At the same time, the mountain rescue team—19 men in total—conducted a search with avalanche transceivers in the area known as the "Wilde Grube." "We also searched classic off-piste runs with our drone and identified numerous tracks. In doing so, we happened to discover two tracks in the area of the fracture edge of a snow slab at an altitude of around 2,100 meters."

Avalanche cone near the valley station
This was the fatal avalanche. The avalanche cone was located around 300 meters lower down, already in the flat area not far from the Gamsgartenbahn valley station.

Dogs immediately alerted
Two of a total of six mountain rescue search dogs were at the valley station and rushed to the avalanche cone within minutes. The dogs immediately alerted to the scent, and there were also avalanche transceiver signals from the avalanche.

Helmet shimmered through the snow cover
That was around 9:30 p.m. "We dug out the two snowboarders right away, but unfortunately the emergency doctor could only confirm their deaths," Chwojan recounts. One victim was buried about a meter under the snow. The second was also completely buried, his helmet glimmering through the snow. 

Avalanche airbag not triggered
Both athletes were wearing avalanche transceivers, and one victim was also wearing an avalanche airbag, which, however, did not deploy. The avalanche had been triggered on a slope with a gradient of approximately 35 degrees in a gully or small valley at the front of the so-called Egesengrat. "This freeride descent was well known, but due to the lack of snow, it had probably never been used before this year," suspects Chwojan, head of operations.

According to the police, the men were familiar with the area and had crossed several slopes before the avalanche to reach the gully. 

Old snow and drift snow problems
On Sunday, avalanche warning level 3 – considerable danger – was in effect in the Stubai Glacier area. Matthias Walcher from the avalanche warning service suspects that the duo fell victim to old and drift snow problems.