An avalanche on the ski slopes just above Zermatt has killed three people and seriously injured at least one more, according to preliminary reports.
This time, the victims were not backcountry skiers but users at one of Switzerland’s most exclusive ski resorts. The slide came down yesterday, Easter Monday, a holiday in part of Europe. It hit at 2 pm in the Riffelberg section, in the heart of the ski area.
The avalanche occurred at the Riffelberg section, in the center of Zermatt skiing. Photo: Zermatt Ski
Enlarged map of the Riffelberg area. Photo: Zermatt Ski
The first victim identified was a 15-year-old American male. The names of the two other fatalities, a man and a woman, are yet to be released, the Valais Cantonal Police reported. The injured skier is a 20-year-old Swiss national.
Police and rescue teams noted that the skiers were off-piste. Several people recorded the avalanche from nearby terraces, showing how the avalanche swept down a steep slope between the groomed runs.
The rescue operation involved 45 people, search dogs, and four helicopters from Air Zermatt that scouted the area until nightfall.
A powerful front of high winds and heavy snowfall crossed southern and central Europe last week. Yesterday was sunny and less windy: a perfect skiing day, but with dangerous conditions due to wind slabs on top of fresh, unstable snow.
Today, the bulletin by the SLF (the Swiss Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research) shows a risk of 3 (on a scale of 5) in the Swiss Alps. Yesterday, however, the risk was 4. So far this season, 14 people have died in 12 avalanches in Switzerland, the SLF told The Guardian.
The “white risk” maps by SLF show the current avalanches in the Swiss Alps and their size. Map: SLF
