Avalanche
On Saturday, March 2, two backcountry skiers were swept away and buried by two separate avalanches in the Davos ski area in Switzerland. Both skiers were traveling on separate freeride areas in Davos Monstein, near the Rinerhorn ski area of the Davos Klosters resort.
Local cantonal police received a message just before 2 p.m. that a skier was completely buried by an avalanche in the area of the Erezberg. The deployed rescue workers were able to locate a 57-year-old Swiss man buried under the snow masses and were able to extricate the man. The skier was seriously injured and transported by Rega helicopter to the Cantonal Hospital Graubünden in Chur.
During the rescue and salvage work at the Erezberg, rescue workers were alerted to another missing backcountry skier. Not far from the accident site on the Erezberg, the second skier was located below the Leidbachhorn and dug up by the rescue workers. The 49-year-old skier was confirmed to be deceased at the site of the avalanche.
The two avalanches were attended by two crews from the Rega helicopter crew, two helicopters of the Heli Bernina, rescuers of the Alpine Rescue Graubünden with a rescue specialist helicopter, and several employees of the cantonal police of Graubünden.
Together with the public prosecutor’s office, the cantonal police of Graubünden seeks to clarify the exact circumstances of both of these avalanches. It is unclear at this stage if the skiers were in the backcountry alone and what equipment they were carrying with them when the avalanches occurred.
