VIENNA — A week of heavy snowfall across the Alps culminated in a weekend of devastation as eight skiers were killed in three separate avalanches across the Austrian highlands on Saturday. The staggering toll, which local media have dubbed “Black Saturday,” has brought the week’s total fatalities in the Alps to 19, igniting a desperate plea for caution from mountain rescue services.
The most catastrophic incident occurred in the Gastein Valley in the Salzburg region, where a group of seven off-piste skiers was swept away on the 2,150-meter-high Finsterkopf. Despite a massive mobilization of four rescue helicopters and Red Cross dog teams, four members of the party were found dead beneath the snow.
“This tragedy painfully demonstrates how serious the current avalanche situation is,” said Gerhard Kremser, district head of the Pongau mountain rescue service. “The old and fresh snow layers are poorly bonded, creating a delicate and deadly landscape for anyone venturing beyond the marked trails.”
A Chronology of Disaster
The fatalities in the Gastein Valley were only part of a 90-minute window of chaos on Saturday afternoon.
- 12:30 PM (Bad Hofgastein): A woman skiing with her husband in open alpine terrain at an altitude of 2,200 meters was buried by a sudden slide. Despite her husband’s immediate call for help and frantic resuscitation efforts by rescuers, she died at the scene.
- 2:00 PM (Grossarl Valley): The avalanche on the Finsterkopf buried seven skiers, killing four. One survivor was airlifted with life-threatening injuries, while two others escaped with minor wounds.
- Late Afternoon (Pusterwald): In a separate tragedy in the Styria province, a group of seven Czech ski tourers was struck by a massive snow slide. Three were completely buried and found dead shortly after rescuers arrived.
The “Considerable” Danger
The Salzburg and Tyrolean regions are currently under a Level 3 (Considerable) avalanche warning. While skiers often perceive Level 3 as a middle-ground risk, forensic experts warn it is the level associated with the highest number of fatalities because it is the “tipping point” where human activity most easily triggers a slide.
The recent victims include a diverse cross-section of the alpine community:
- A 13-year-old Czech boy killed Tuesday in Bad Gastein.
- A 58-year-old local ski tourer in the Tyrolean resort of Weerberg.
- Several international tourists, including the three Czech nationals and a German cross-country skier killed Friday near the Swiss village of Tujetsch.
A Regional Crisis
The carnage is not limited to Austria. Across the border in Switzerland, police confirmed the death of a German man on Friday after a group of seven was buried on the Piz Badus peak. Meanwhile, the French Alps have reported six deaths over the last seven days, including a British man in his 50s who was buried under eight feet of snow in La Plagne.
As the sun rises over the Alps this Sunday, rescue teams remain on high alert. With clear skies forecast for parts of the region, authorities fear a fresh influx of Sunday skiers will ignore the “Black Saturday” warnings in search of untouched powder.
“The snowpack is highly unstable,” warned the Swiss Avalanche Institute. “We are seeing wind-slab avalanches that can be triggered by a single skier from several meters away. The mountains are simply not safe right now.”