In the case in Vorarlberg, the family informed the rescue workers when the man did not come home. He went skiing in open terrain on Friday. The mountain rescue carried out a large search operation in the area of the Walmendinger Alpe, but had to give up the search due to strong gusts of wind of up to 100 km/h and poor visibility. The search was restarted on Saturday morning.
The missing person had an avalanche beeper with him. The mountain rescue was able to locate the signal and find the man. He was buried around one and a half meters deep – more on that in vorarlberg.ORF.at.
Warning of dangers in Vorarlberg and Tyrol
Large parts of Austria were warned of the danger of avalanches on Saturday. Intense snowfall and wind caused the avalanche danger to increase dangerously in Tyrol and Vorarlberg. Experts from the avalanche warning services from both federal states appealed to winter sports enthusiasts to exercise great caution. Inexperienced skiers should not leave the slopes at the moment.
At higher altitudes in Tyrol and Vorarlberg on Saturday there was a level four avalanche danger on the five-part scale. The snow cover is unstable in all parts of the country, it was said from Tyrol. Up to 50 centimeters of fresh snow fell widely, and up to 40 centimeters more can be added over the course of Saturday. The fresh snow was heavily transported by the wind, this snowdrift accumulation could very easily be triggered at all exposures, even by individual winter sports enthusiasts.
Warning also in Vorarlberg
The experts warned that the danger spots are currently hardly recognizable even for experienced people. Spontaneous avalanches are to be expected, remote triggering could also occur. On steep grass slopes below 2,000 meters, slides and full-snow avalanches are possible. Extreme caution is required for winter sports enthusiasts – more on this in tirol.ORF.at.
The warning from the Vorarlberg experts was just as clear: “Caution winter sports enthusiasts – some critical conditions require restraint.” At high altitudes there was a high risk of avalanches in all parts of the country, especially above the tree line. The main problem here was the fresh snow and the fresh snowdrift. In many places, slab avalanches could be released by themselves or by a small additional load, such as a single winter sports enthusiast. According to the warning, avalanches could become large and endanger isolated exposed areas – more on this at vorarlberg.ORF.at.
The snowfall should slowly subside over the course of the weekend, but the conditions away from the slopes are still considered to be precarious, according to the experts. In Tyrol, a skier died in an avalanche in Ötztal on Friday, and a 15-year-old was swept away by an avalanche in the Kitzbühel district and was seriously injured. In Vorarlberg, two men were buried in Lech-Zürs, they escaped without injuries.
Sölden: 32-year-old dies under a slab of snow
An avalanche in the Gurgler group in the municipality of Sölden (Imst district) spilled a 32-year-old from a slab of snow on Friday. The man was located and dug up by his comrades, but any help came too late for him – more on that in tirol.ORF.at.
A dangerous incident occurred in Zell am See in Salzburg on Friday afternoon. According to the alpine police, a Viennese and his 13-year-old son released a huge slab of snow – 300 meters wide, 800 meters long. They weren’t buried. The man later denied the danger of the situation – more on that in salzburg.ORF.at.
Upper Styria continues to sink into snow
Winter has a firm grip on large parts of Upper Styria. While many regions have been sinking in the snow for days and it will continue to snow on Saturday, the storm and the increasing danger of avalanches are causing increasing problems – more on this in steiermark.ORF.at.
