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Tag: Avalanches

  • 2 skiers killed in large late-winter avalanches in Colorado

    2 skiers killed in large late-winter avalanches in Colorado

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    A skier has been killed in a large avalanche just outside a Colorado ski resort boundary, a day after authorities recovered the body of another avalanche victim in the state

    MARBLE, Colo. — A skier was killed in an avalanche on Sunday outside a Colorado ski resort boundary, just a day after authorities recovered the body of another avalanche victim, authorities said.

    Three skiers were caught in Sunday’s large avalanche in the Maroon bowl area outside of the Aspen Highlands resort near Aspen, the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office said.

    Two of the skiers managed to escape. Further details about the victim were not immediately available.

    On Saturday, Colorado authorities recovered the body of skier Joel Shute, 36, of Glenwood Springs, after he and two others were caught in a large backcountry avalanche southwest of Marble in western Colorado.

    Shute had been missing since Friday evening, when the avalanche swept 2,400 feet (730 meters) down a mountainside as the were backcountry touring.

    The avalanche was two to three feet (up to nearly 1 meter) deep where it began and up to 500 feet (150 meters) wide, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center said. Rescue teams found the victim’s body buried in avalanche debris, the center said.

    A skier and snowboarder who were with Shute survived. The snowboarder hiked out to get help and rescue teams evacuated the injured skier by helicopter. Both were taken to the hospital, the Gunnison County Sheriff’s office said.

    Recent storms have raised avalanche risks.

    Nineteen people have been killed across the U.S. by avalanches so far this winter, including nine fatalities in Colorado. Avalanches in the winter of 2020-2021 killed 37 people nationwide, which was the most recorded by the avalanche center in records going back to 1950.

    Members of Shute’s family said he was aware of avalanche dangers but was devoted to skiing. The victim’s mother, Lisa Gerstner, said he spent lots of time traveling and used his pilot’s license to fly his father and friends for work trips and recreation.

    “Skiing was Joel’s life,” brother Aaron Shute told KDVR-TV. “It was his passion and what he wanted to do with his life,

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  • 2 skiers missing in avalanche near Mont Blanc

    2 skiers missing in avalanche near Mont Blanc

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    Rescue teams are searching for two skiers who were caught in an avalanche near Mont Blanc on Italy’s northern border with France

    ROME — Rescue teams were searching Sunday for two skiers who were caught in an avalanche near Mont Blanc on Italy’s northern border with France, local authorities said.

    Two surviving off-piste skiers sounded the alarm shortly after the 1 p.m. avalanche on Val Veny, above Courmayeur, but low-lying clouds prevented helicopters from reaching the scene, Courmayeur Mayor Roberto Rota told Sky TG24.

    Rescuers were getting to the site by snowmobile, but Rota said the chances of finding the skiers alive was slim given the amount of time that had passed.

    Rota suggested the four skiers were amateurs who hadn’t gone up with a guide or proper avalanche safety equipment, though he added that avalanche airbags would have only been useful if rescuers were nearby and had gotten to the scene within the first 15-20 minutes.

    “Unfortunately, it’s 99% that those involved won’t make it,” he said.

    The avalanche risk Sunday for the area was a level-three “considerable” danger on a scale of five risk levels — low, moderate, considerable, high and very high — used by the European Avalanche Warning Services, Rota said.

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  • Indonesia’s Merapi volcano spews hot clouds in new eruption

    Indonesia’s Merapi volcano spews hot clouds in new eruption

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    Indonesia’s Mount Merapi has erupted with avalanches of searing gas clouds and lava, forcing authorities to halt tourism and mining activities on the slopes of the country’s most active volcano

    BySLAMET RIYADI Associated Press

    MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia — Indonesia’s Mount Merapi erupted Saturday with avalanches of searing gas clouds and lava, forcing authorities to halt tourism and mining activities on the slopes of the country’s most active volcano.

    Merapi, on the densely populated island of Java, unleashed clouds of hot ash and a mixture of rock, lava and gas that traveled up to 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) down its slopes. A column of hot clouds rose 100 meters (yards) into the air, said the National Disaster Management Agency’s spokesperson Abdul Muhari.

    The eruption throughout the day blocked out the sun and blanketed several villages with falling ash. No casualties have been reported.

    It was Merapi’s biggest lava flow since authorities raised the alert level to the second-highest in November 2020, said Hanik Humaida, the head of Yogyakarta’s Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center.

    She said residents living on Merapi’s slopes were advised to stay 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) away from the crater’s mouth and be aware of the danger posed by lava.

    Tourism and mining activities were halted.

    The 2,968-meter (9,737-foot) mountain is about 30 kilometers (18 miles) from Yogyakarta, an ancient center of Javanese culture and the seat of royal dynasties going back centuries. About a quarter million people live within 10 kilometers (6 miles) of the volcano.

    Merapi is the most active of more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia and has repeatedly erupted with lava and gas clouds recently. Its last major eruption in 2010 killed 347 people and displaced 20,000 villagers.

    Indonesia, an archipelago of 270 million people, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity because it sits along the “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean.

    An eruption in December 2021 of Mount Semeru, the highest volcano on Java island, left 48 people dead and 36 missing.

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  • Avalanches kill 9 in Italy, Austria as heavy snow hits Alps

    Avalanches kill 9 in Italy, Austria as heavy snow hits Alps

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    FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Nine people died in avalanches in Austria and Italy over the weekend as heavy snow and school holidays drew skiers into the Alps, with some of the victims dying after skiing in unmarked areas despite warnings of elevated avalanche risk, police said.

    On Sunday a snow plow driver in East Tirol in Austria was recovered dead after being swept away. In Oetztal a 32-year-old Chinese skier died, while in Zillertal a 17-year old male from New Zealand was buried and in Kleinwalsertal a 55-year-old German man missing since Friday was found dead.

    More than a dozen avalanches were reported in the Tirol region of Austria alone and authorities had set the warning level at four on a scale of five and urged caution.

    A 31-year-old German woman was killed Saturday in the South Tirol region of Italy when a snowmass broke loose at 2,200 meters (7,200 feet) near the Limo Pass some 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of Bolzano, the dpa news agency reported. Rescue efforts were complicated by 120-kilometer-per-hour (75-mile-per-hour) winds; her body was recovered from under 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) of snow. Another woman skiing with her was freed from the snow unharmed.

    Other victims Saturday included a 29-year-old ski guide and his 33-year-old male guest who were skiing away from prepared ski runs when a snowboarder set off an avalanche above them in St. Anton in Austria. And in Kaunertal a 62-year old man was killed by another snowslide.

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  • Snowmobiler killed in large avalanche in southern Montana

    Snowmobiler killed in large avalanche in southern Montana

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    COOKE CITY, Mont. — A snowmobiler from Washington died after he was buried in a large avalanche in southern Montana.

    Forecasters with the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center say two snowmobilers were headed uphill near Daisy Pass north of Cooke City on New Year’s Eve when one of them triggered the slide and was swept about 600 vertical feet (183 vertical meters).

    The buried rider, who was covered in 5 feet (152 centimeters) of snow, was wearing an avalanche airbag backpack, but it wasn’t deployed. Both riders, whose names have not been released, had shovels and probes, but neither was wearing an avalanche beacon.

    Another group of snowmobilers helped search for the missing rider and found his body about an hour later. The avalanche was about 2-4 feet (61-122 centimeters) deep, 500 feet (152 meters) wide and 600 feet (183 meters) long. It broke on weak snow near the bottom of the snowpack.

    The accident marked the third avalanche fatality this winter season, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, which tracks the deaths nationally.

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  • A skier died in an avalanche outside a Colorado resort | CNN

    A skier died in an avalanche outside a Colorado resort | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    A man died while skiing with his father in Colorado on Saturday when an avalanche struck and engulfed them both, a rescue team statement said.

    The avalanche struck outside the Breckenridge Ski Resort when the men went skiing through “a backcountry area called The Numbers, which is outside the Breckenridge Ski Resort boundary on Peak 10,” the Summit County Rescue Group said in a Facebook post.

    “They were caught in an avalanche at approximately 1:00 pm, with the father partially buried and the son fully buried,” the post said.

    While the father was able to dig himself out and call 911 for help, his son did not make it, the post said.

    Nearly two dozen rescue group members and three Summit County Sheriff’s Office Special Operations Unit members responded, the post said.

    “A probe line was formed to find the son and the onsite command confirmed that the subject was found by a dog team at 3:11, deceased,” the post said. “Our deepest condolences to all those affected by this tragedy.”

    More details about the death will be released by the coroner’s office, the rescue group said. The Colorado Avalanche Information Center will conduct an accident investigation on Sunday, the post added.

    There have been three avalanche fatalities in the US this season, two in Colorado and one in Montana, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.

    The Breckenridge Ski Resort is about 80 miles west of Denver.

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  • Report: 2 missing after Austria avalanche, fewer than feared

    Report: 2 missing after Austria avalanche, fewer than feared

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    FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Rescue workers were searching for two missing people after an avalanche swept across ski trails in western Austria on Sunday, the dpa news agency reported.

    Initially up to 10 people were feared missing based on video from a witness, but eight of those individuals had been identified and were no longer feared buried, dpa reported citing a spokesman of the rescue team.

    About 200 rescue workers were searching the avalanche site near the town of Zuers.

    The avalanche occurred at around 3 p.m. (1400 GMT) on the 2,700-meter (nearly 9,000-foot) high Trittkopf mountain between Zuers and Lech am Arlberg, and the cascading snow reached as far as nearby ski trails.

    The avalanche followed days of snow in the high alpine region and unseasonably warm weather on Christmas Day. The local mountain rescue service had rated the avalanche danger as “high.”

    Officials said one person could be recovered quickly. Searchlights were set up on the snow mass to continue the search after darkness fell, and dogs were being used to try to find the missing.

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  • Man dies in Christmas Day avalanche in Colorado | CNN

    Man dies in Christmas Day avalanche in Colorado | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    A 44-year-old man died in an avalanche in Colorado on Christmas Day, authorities said.

    Four people were caught in the slide on Berthoud Pass near the town of Winter Park. Two of them were buried, the Grand County Sheriff’s Office said.

    Bystanders and family members helped rescue one. But when the second person was found, lifesaving efforts failed and the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

    The avalanche was reported around 12:50 p.m. Sunday.

    Avalanche deaths usually spike in January and February, but avalanches can form anytime if the right conditions are present.

    “Early season snowpack can be highly unstable because of the lack of consistent storms,” said CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam. “Once the storm door is open to more frequent snow events in January and February, snow begins to pile up in layers on top of the unstable, early season snowfall.”

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  • At least 10 people buried in avalanche in Austria | CNN

    At least 10 people buried in avalanche in Austria | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    At least 10 people were buried in an avalanche on Sunday near the mountainous villages of Lech and Zurs in Austria, according to a statement from the state-run Austrian Press Agency.  

    The avalanche happened Sunday afternoon in the open ski area of the villages. 

    One person has been rescued so far according to the police, the agency said. 

    “Ten winter sport enthusiasts” were buried, according to the statement.  

    A search and rescue operation is in progress with more than 100 people involved, including avalanche search dogs and helicopters. 

    “We do everything we can to save the winter sports enthusiasts,” the Lech Municipality spokesperson said, according to the Austrian Press Agency. “Searchlights were requested so that the search could continue in the dark,” the statement said. 

    This is a developing story and will be updated.

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  • 3 Indian soldiers killed in Kashmir avalanche

    3 Indian soldiers killed in Kashmir avalanche

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    SRINAGAR, India — An avalanche in Kashmir has killed three Indian soldiers along the heavily militarized Himalayan frontier between India and Pakistan, the Indian military said Saturday.

    A slide of snow hit the northwestern Machil sector in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Friday and trapped three soldiers on a patrol, said Col. Emron Musavi, an Indian army spokesperson.

    He said the three were rescued and evacuated to a hospital where they died.

    Avalanches and landslides are common in Kashmir, divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both in its entirety.

    Avalanches have caused some of the heaviest tolls for the Indian and Pakistani armies camping in the region.

    In 2017, at least 20 Indian soldiers were killed in three avalanches. In 2012, a massive avalanche in the Pakistan-controlled portion of Kashmir killed 140 people, including 129 Pakistani soldiers.

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  • Avalanche kills at least 4 mountaineers in Indian Himalayas | CNN

    Avalanche kills at least 4 mountaineers in Indian Himalayas | CNN

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    New Delhi
    CNN
     — 

    At least four people were killed and 28 people remain missing after an avalanche hit a group of mountaineers in the Indian Himalayas on Tuesday, according to an Indian mountaineering organization.

    In a statement Tuesday, the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering said a team of 34 trainees and seven instructors were training on Mount Draupadi ka Danda II in the northern state of Uttarakhand when they were caught in an avalanche at around 8:45 a.m. local time.

    The group was returning from the 5,670-meter (18,898 feet) peak, the statement said.

    A search and rescue operation is ongoing with assistance from the Indian Air Force and state and national disaster response forces, the statement added.

    “Deeply anguished by the loss of precious lives due to [a] landslide which has struck the mountaineering expedition carried out by the Nehru Mountaineering Institute in Uttarkashi,” India’s Defense Minister Rajnath Singh posted on Twitter.

    Last year, more than 200 people died after part of a glacier collapsed in Uttarakhand, carrying a deadly mixture of ice, rock and water that tore through a mountain gorge and crashed through a dam.

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  • 10 mountaineers killed after avalanche in northern India

    10 mountaineers killed after avalanche in northern India

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    NEW DELHI — At least 10 trainee mountaineers died Tuesday after being swept away by an avalanche in the Himalayas in northern India, media reports said, as rescuers searched for 11 others missing.

    A group of 29 people was hit by an avalanche on a mountain peak located in the Gangotri range of the Garhwal Himalayas on Tuesday morning, said Uttarakhand state police chief Ashok Kumar. He said rescuers pulled eight survivors from the snow and took them to a local hospital for treatment.

    The Press Trust of India news agency reported 10 had died.

    All the missing were undergoing training at a mountaineering institute but far from the avalanche site, Kumar said.

    Uttarakhand state’s top elected official, Pushkar Singh Dhami, said the National Disaster Response Force and the Indian army deployed teams to help with rescue efforts. The Indian air force deployed two helicopters to search for the missing.

    “It has happened for the first time in the history of Indian mountaineering that such a large group of trainee mountaineers has been killed in an avalanche,” said Amit Chowdhary, an official at the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation and a former Indian air force officer.

    Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said he was “deeply anguished” by the loss of lives in the avalanche.

    “My condolences to the bereaved families who have lost their loved ones,” Singh tweeted.

    Avalanches are common in the mountainous areas of Uttarakhand. Last year, a glacier burst in the state resulted in a flash flood that left more than 200 people dead.

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