Strong gusts and storms prompted the alarm. They reported from a control room that “there are many reckless people.”
In the most recent hours, three skiers perished in separate avalanches in the Tyrol and Vorarlberg regions, two of the nine federated states that make up the Republic of Austria.
The Europa Press news agency reported on Saturday that one of the casualties in the town of Kaltenbach, in the Schwaz area, perished after being buried by snow (Tyrol).
According to police officials mentioned by the German newspaper “Die Presse,” based in Vienna, this is a 17-year-old New Zealand visitor who was skiing alone.
The latest fatality is a 32-year-old Chinese skier who died in another avalanche in the Oetztal valley, also in that region of the Alps, which is well-known as a ski and hiking resort, according to the DPA agency. The body of another middle-aged man was also discovered in the morning under the snow in the alpine valley of Kleinwalsertal (Vorarlberg).
The instances of two further missing people were also reported in St. Anton Am Arlberg, a Tyrolean town noted for being the entrance to the Arlberg ski resort, the “cradle of alpine skiing,” however the rescue effort was halted due to the risk to first responders.
For his part, a 15-year-old boy was found alive in Warth am Arlberg after spending 15 minutes buried in snow and was taken to the Zams hospital. According to Adi Rohrer, a representative for the Vorarlberg control center, who was reported by ‘Die Presse,’ “There are many reckless people who go skiing.”
As a result of the storms and strong winds, Austria’s avalanche alert level was raised to 4 on a scale of 5, and as of now, 17 avalanches have been reported, with nine of those solely affecting the Tyrol region.
An earlier instance in Argentina
Publicist Juan José Alejandro Cravero (59), a partner in the Craverolanis agency, and his buddy César Jorge Lago (42), a businessman from San Isidro, were skiing in Mendoza in July 2022.
The incident that required the injured to be transferred could have resulted in a worse disaster. The assistance of other skiers, including a doctor, instructors, and employees from the slope, was essential to the rescue of the two trapped skiers.
When Cravero, Lago, and another friend named Matas descended the Ceidor track (for off-piste free skiing) at the intersection of the Neptuno and Venus tracks of the ski complex in southern Mendoza, snow began to fall from a slope of the hill.
Cravero and Lago were buried in the snow while the avalanche carried the three skiers away. They were able to save them thanks to the assistance of other tourists and the trackers, who work there as technical staff.