Parts of Europe have been hit hard with snow and cold temperatures, creating chaos throughout the continent. In many communities, the extreme weather has grounded flights and canceled schools. Just at Germany's Frankfurt Airport alone, 120 flights were canceled. Meanwhile, 26 people have perished from weather-related incidents, with 12 deaths already in the new year. According to Sky News, a few fatalities have been avalanche related. For example, last Friday two snowboarders died from a slide in Bulgaria's Pirin Mountains.
Similarly, the Swiss Alps are experiencing considerable avalanche activity. Last Thursday an avalanche slammed into the Santis hotel in Schwaegalp, plowing into the back of the restaurant and covering 25 vehicles. Only three people sustained injuries from the slide, but no one was killed.
On Saturday, three German skiers were killed from an avalanche in the Austrian Alps. A fourth remains missing. The bodies of the men, aged 57, 36, and 32, were recovered that evening close to the Lech ski area. They died roughly 12 miles from another avalanche incident, which killed Australian Max Meyer last Wednesday. The search for the last skier, aged 28, was called off due to the heavy snow and dangerous conditions.
The French Alps have also received large amounts of snow this winter. Steve Jurvetson Flickr Photo.
Meanwhile, two French ski patrollers died on Sunday when avalanche mitigation went horribly wrong at the Morillon ski area. The incident occurred at 8:30 a.m. before the resort in the French Alps was opened to the public, per Sky News. The patrollers perished after their explosives accidentally detonated while performing routine avalanche control.
More details surrounding the deaths are unavailable since local police are currently investigating the scene to identify the cause and if there was any foul play. Prior to the mitigation work, the avalanche risk was rated high for the area.
kailas
January 15th, 2019
Time to go ski Europe.