[VIDEO] Christmas Miracle as Avalanche Buries 10 Skiers in Lech, Austria

On Christmas Day, Sunday, December 25, 2022, an avalanche was triggered in the Austrian ski resort of Lech. The avalanche occurred around 3 p.m. at the Trittkopf peak at 8,924ft (2,720m) and spilled onto a groomed run, Piste Nr. 134, of the Austrian resort. About 1,640-1970ft (500-600m) of the groomed run, which had skiers on it at the time, were covered by parts of this avalanche.

A grand-scale search was launched involving 200 rescue workers, seven helicopters, and search dogs. Eight people were found by the rescue efforts or could free themselves from the snow masses, and only two needed to be taken to the hospital. Two further skiers came away with minor injuries that did not require hospitalization. The other four were unharmed. Video evidence from other skiers’ phones had been evaluated by the police and indicated that ten people had been buried.

Two people were still unaccounted for as evening broke, and the rescue efforts continued into the night. At 1 a.m. on Monday, December 26, 2022, the local police announced that the two unaccounted people had managed to escape the avalanche entirely and ended the search for the night, as no missing person reports had been filed.

The local police stated that the search would continue during the day today to exclude with absolute certainty the possibility of anyone still being trapped in the snow. For now, it appears that no one perished in this avalanche, which seems like a miracle when you watch the video shared on social media of the avalanche.

Local authorities set Avalanche danger in the region to ‘high’ after snowfalls and warmer temperatures over the last few days. The ski region of Lech, Austria, is located near the border with Switzerland, about two hours from Zurich airport, and gets an average of 157″ (398cm) of snow per year.

Die Lawine in Lech / Zürs ist scheinbar direkt auf der Piste runtergegangen. Gestern hieß es, „Ausläufer“ erreichte auf die Piste, heute „die darunterliegende Piste Nr. 134 (Balmen) wurde auf einer Länge von 500 – 600 Metern verlegt.“ bzw. laut @KURIERat direkt darauf. pic.twitter.com/QvM3KTzrTq

— Philipp NP (@botic) December 26, 2022