Tragic news out of Sölden, Austria this weekend as an inbounds avalanche killed two snowboarders. According to police, the snowboarders were traversing off-piste around noon on Sunday when they triggered a slide that ran onto a run below.
The hill had just received 2-feet of fresh snow, but the area was deemed safe by the local site manager. The avalanche crown was 28″. The two men were buried beneath 3-feet of snow.
Because it is so early in the season, the daily avalanche forecast and warning service are not yet in operation.
More from Snow Camps Europe
“Sadly two people lost their lives today while riding in Sölden, Austria.
The two riders who are thought to have been snowboarders were riding off-piste above the blue piste number 33 which leads down to the Sölden stadium. The avalanche came over the piste #33 and search and rescue where soon on the scene. After a short time, it looked like the riders did not have off-piste equipment with them as no transceiver signal could be found so a manual probe search began. Unfortunately, this is a slow process and the search did not find the people in time and both riders were found to be dead when dugout.
High winds and heavy snowfall across many parts of Austria this weekend have increased the likelihood of an avalanche. Only yesterday the access road to the glacial ski area in Sölden was closed for several hours due to the risk of avalanches.
We send our condolences to the families of the riders who lost their lives today in this tragedy.” – Snow Camps Europe