General News

As reported at www.planetski.eu, a British man who has not been identified but is thought to be in his thirties, had been heading to the Cabane du Mont Rosa on a well known ski touring route known as the Schwartztor when he and another skier were caught in a slide on a north facing slope their group was descending.

Reported to be 50m wide and 1m deep, the slab avalanche buried the British man completely. The other skier, a 33-year-old member of a five-strong group which also included a French mountain guide, remained on the surface.

Although wearing appropriate safety gear including a transceiver, the British man, thought to live in France, could not be revived once recovered quickly after the slide. The other skier was airlifted to hospital with no serious injuries.

As reported at www.planetski.eu, the accident brings the total number of people that have died in avalanches in Switzerland this winter to 28 according to the Swiss Snow and Avalanche Research Institute (SLF). This is four higher than the average since 1997/98 of 24 for the whole year, a figure recently printed by PisteHors.

An investigation into the accident is now underway.