Industry News
A shocking drama is unfolding near the famous Matterhorn at Zermatt, Switzerland. A group of six backcountry skiers went missing on Saturday, March 9, and thus far five have been confirmed dead while one remains missing. Five of the six backcountry skiers belong to one family, hailing from the canton Wallis/Valais, while the sixth member is from Freiburg.
The group had departed on a route from Zermatt to Arolla on Saturday morning and went missing in the Tête Blanche area. When the group did not reach Arolla that day as agreed, a worried family member alerted the police and the Kantonale Walliser Rettungsorganisation/Valais Cantonal Rescue Organisation (‘KWRO’) around 4 p.m.
At 5:19 p.m., a member of the group managed to reach the KWRO rescue workers. This allowed rescue workers to narrow down the search area to the Col de Tête Blanche area at about 3,500 -3,700 meters (11,483 – 12,140 feet). The storm on the south side of the Alps prevented helicopters from searching the areas, but around 6:20 p.m. a group of five rescue workers departed from Zermatt on foot but had to turn around at around 3,000 meters (9,843 feet) due to inclement weather. At 9 p.m. that night, all search and rescue efforts had to be abandoned due to fog, wind, snowfall, and avalanche danger.
On Sunday morning, March 10, KWRO rescue workers held an emergency meeting at 5:00 a.m. to assess possible rescue strategies. IT specialists investigated mobile phones, social networks, and other GPS data of the six backcountry skiers with the help of their family members to narrow down the search area. A team of specialized rescue workers was dispatched together with aid from a Superpuma helicopter by the army.
At 6:30 p.m. a team of two rescuer workers, a doctor, and a policeman from the mountain division was dropped off near the Dent-Blanche hut and were able to work their way towards the Tête-Blanche area. Around 9:20 p.m. the team reached the Tête-Blanche area, where it found five of the six missing skiers. The team could only confirm their deaths at that point. The sixth skier remains missing and the search for the person remains ongoing. Due to weather conditions prevalent in the area, search and rescue had to be abandoned on Sunday evening around 1 a.m.
The cause of death of the five backcountry skiers found is currently unclear and investigations continue. They may have died in an avalanche or may have died from hypothermia. According to a press conference by the Kantonspolizei Wallis, the group members had taken every measure to survive the night and dug a cave to spend the night when it became clear search and rescue would be unable to get to them on Saturday.
On Monday morning around 8:30 a.m., the search for the sixth person resumed. This is an evolving situation and we will keep SnowBrains readers updated as best as we can.
It is the deadliest incident in the area since seven backcountry skiers perished at Arolla in a storm in 2018.
In a separate incident, a skier was killed in the Val Ferret area near Zermatt. While the skier was able to dig himself out, he succumbed to his injuries later in hospital. The situation in the area remains highly dangerous and avalanche bulletins urge backcountry tourers to exercise extreme caution. The area saw around 30 inches of snow in the last three days.
