Backcountry Skier Falls 1,000 Feet to his Death at Belalp, Switzerland A backcountry skier fell roughly 1,000 feet to his death while on a backcountry tour from the Belalp ski area to a hut on the Aletsch glacier on Thursday, May 10. A group of three backcountry skiers was hiking from Belalp to the Oberaletsch hut at 8,661 feet (2,640 meters) when one person fell to their death. After hiking past […] Julia Schneemann | May 10, 2024 0 Comments
Forest Fire Ravaging Swiss Mountain Region — Hundreds Evacuated Forest fires have ravaged large sections of forested land near the Aletsch glacier in the Swiss canton of Valais/Wallis. The fire broke out on Monday, July 17, 2023, near the municipality of Bitsch, and summer winds fanned the fire up the entire mountain and into the neighboring region Riederalp, destroying around 100 hectares (around 250 acres) of native forest. Several […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | July 21, 2023 0 Comments
Husband of 6-Time Olympic Medal Winner Killed in Avalanche in Jungfrau Region, Switzerland The husband of six-time Olympic medal winner and 8-time World Championship medal winner Justyna Kowalczyk-Tekieli perished in an avalanche near Stechelberg in the Bernese Alps of Switzerland. Kacper Tekieli was an experienced mountaineer who had climbed the most important Polish and Slovak peaks and had also climbed internationally in Alaska, Norway and European Alps, where he had conquered the ‘Alpine […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | May 19, 2023 1 Comment
Human Remains, Plane Wreckage Trapped in Ice for Decades Released by Receding Glaciers in Switzerland Last week a plane was discovered on the Aletsch glacier in the canton of Valais, Switzerland, which had crashed more than half a century ago. While the bodies had been found at the time of the plane crash, the actual plane could not be recovered due to a lack of appropriate equipment 54 years ago. The plane had crashed on […] Julia Schneemann | August 12, 2022 0 Comments
Freezing Line Breaks All-Time Altitude Record in Switzerland Concerning news from Switzerland was reported last week when the MeteoSwiss weather balloon recorded a new all-time high for the freezing line at 5,184m (17,008 ft). MeteoSwiss, the federal office of meteorology and climatology of Switzerland, carries out a twice-daily measurement in their Payerne office via a radio-sounding balloon to measure important meteorological values in the atmosphere. This measurement puts […] Weather Julia Schneemann | August 5, 2022 2 Comments
Three Ski-Tourers Killed by Avalanche in Switzerland over the Weekend A group of five Spanish ski-tourers were caught in an avalanche on the Aletsch glacier in southern Switzerland on Saturday afternoon. Other skiers witnessed the accident and alerted the authorities. Three people were pronounced dead at the scene and the other two have minor injuries. The group left the Knokordia mountain hut earlier in the day and were heading to the Fiescheralp […] Avalanche AvyBrains | April 2, 2018 0 Comments
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