Industry News
[Updated Sunday, April 28, 2024]
A terrible work accident occurred on the Les Diablerets side of the Glacier 3000 Resort in Switzerland on Monday, April 22, in which a Pistenbully snow groomer tumbled down a slope of the Swiss ski resort, severely injuring the driver.
Around 8:35 in the morning, a snow groomer tipped over for unknown reasons as the driver was returning it to the garage near the top station of the resort. According to the press release by the Vaud cantonal police, the Pistenbully fell around 1,300 feet (400 meters) down the slope of the mountain before coming to rest. The driver was ejected from the Pistenbully cabin and was found with life threatening injuries by rescue workers. He was airlifted by Air Glacier to Les Diablerets and then transported to the CHUV by a REGA helicopter. The injured man, a 35-year-old Swiss national, was in critical condition and subsequently succumbed to his injuries on Sunday, April 28.
The resort Glacier 3000 is 20 minutes from Gstaad and 40 minutes from Monetreux. Unlike most other European resorts it does not have a village at its base. The closest village is Les Diablerets, which is in the French-speaking area of Switzerland, whereas the Glacier3000 is in the German-speaking area. The resort was purchased in 2005 by Gstaad local Marcel Bach and the billionaires Bernie Ecclestone and Jean-Claude Mimran who transformed a bankrupt ski area into a year-round mountain playground. The group invested heavily into the infrastructure, adding many attractions, like a peak-to-peak suspension bridge, an ice cave, tobogganing, and dog sledding. The resort is open year-round.
An investigation into the cause of the accident has been launched by the local prosecutor’s office. The investigations have been entrusted to specialists from the Vaud gendarmerie.
