Overview
- Two avalanches struck hours apart in Austria’s Salzburg region on Saturday, leaving five dead in separate incidents at the Schmugglerscharte near Bad Hofgastein and on the Finsterkopf in the Großarltal.
- At Finsterkopf, seven ski tourers were buried; four were recovered dead, one was seriously injured, one lightly injured, and one escaped unharmed.
- Roughly 90 mountain rescuers, multiple helicopters, avalanche dog teams, and crisis-intervention staff carried out searches, recoveries, and evacuations.
- Elsewhere in the Pongau district, skier-triggered slides at Plattenkogel and Frauenkogel caused no injuries, underscoring the unstable conditions.
- In Switzerland, a slide on Piz Badus killed a German national and injured four others, while separate reports of three additional deaths in Styria were not corroborated across this coverage.