Five deaths is the sad toll of two avalanches that overwhelmed ski mountaineers in the mountains of Salzburg today 17 January. One broke away at the pass Schmugglerschartenear Bad Hofgasteinat an altitude of approximately 2,200 meters, the other in the area of Finsterkopfin the Großarltal valley. This was confirmed by the local Alpine Rescue Service, which deployed a total of 91 Alpine rescuers, around 20 firefighters and six dog handlers for the operations.
Despite clear and repeated warnings, numerous avalanches occurred again on Saturday, unfortunately with fatal consequences – confirms Gerhard Kremser, district manager of the Pongau mountain rescue – Our deepest condolences go to the families. This tragedy painfully demonstrates how serious the current avalanche situation is
The mountain rescue of Bad Hofgastein was initially alerted around 12.30pm. A ski mountaineer was hit by an avalanche in the open mountains, near the pass Schmugglerscharte (at approximately 2,200 meters above sea level), and unfortunately resuscitation attempts were unsuccessful.
Subsequently, seven ski mountaineers were swept away by an avalanche in the valley of Grossarlaround 2 p.m., which had broken off into open alpine terrain near the Finsterkopf (2,152 meters above sea level). The mountain rescue teams of Bad Hofgastein, Bad Gastein, Dorfgastein, Großarl And Hüttschlag intervened on site, unfortunately noting four dead and one seriously injured (another person instead suffered minor injuries and one remained unharmed).
The mountain rescue operation is still ongoing and Josef Hetteggerdeputy operational director of mountain rescue in Pongau, specifies that at the moment it is not possible to release detailed information on the identity of the victims.
But it doesn’t end here, because in reality, around midday, other avalanches had been released in the Pongaua Hüttschlag on the Plattenkogel ea Großarl on the Frauenkogelbut fortunately no one was injured in these incidents.
Only 4 days ago, on January 13th, another avalanche a Sportgasteinnot far from the site of these latest accidents, had proven fatal for a 13-year-old boy.
The situation is objectively taking on the characteristics of an emergency (and no, it is not a coincidence).
