Sölden, Austria – At approximately 11:00 am on Thursday, January 19, 2017 a 59-year-old German skier was caught, buried, and killed in an avalanche at approximately 2700 meters near the Rotkogeljoch in the Southern Ötztaler Alps near Sölden in Tyrol, Austria.
The man had climbed towards the Rotkogel from above the ski area. According to Tirol.orf.at, the man was skiing alone when he likely caused the avalanche. The avalanche occurred a few hundred meters above the Rotkogelhütte.
Other skiers at the ski area alerted authorities about the incident. Approximately 30 rescuers responded to the accident site and included mountain rescue, alpine police, and search dogs.
The man was buried 3.5 meters deep. Rescuers found the man using an avalanche transceiver in approximately 50 minutes (Tirol.orf.at, TT.com). The avalanche measured 150 meters wide by 400 meters long (Tirol.orf.at). The avalanche danger at the time of the incident was “considerable.” Lawinenwarndienst.blogspot.co.at expects to have more information about this incident tomorrow.
For photos of this avalanche, visit Tirol.orf.at.
Update 1/20:
- Lawis.at reports that the avalanche occurred on a NE aspect on a 40 degree slope at an elevation of 2750 meters. They pinpointed the slide at a lat/long of 46.9767 ° N/10.9628 ° E. It was a size 2 slab avalanche that measured 200 meters by 140 meters. (Lawis.at 2017-01-19 11:03).
- LawinenWarnDienst.Blogspot.co.at visited the scene of the accident to analyze the accident. They measured the slide as 350 meters long by 150 meters wide. They have numerous photos and a snow pit profile on that blog post.
We will try to update this post when more information is available.
This is the 8th avalanche fatality in Austria this season:
- 20161016 – Hintertux Glacier, Olperer – 1
- 20161126 – Verwall Valley, Obergurgl – 2
- 20161231 – Krahbergzinken, Schladming – 1
- 20170111 – Maroispitze, Stuben – 1
- 20170114 – Sonnenlagant, Brand, Vorarlberg – 1
- 20170116 – Trittkopf Gasmulde, Zurs am Arlberg, Vorarlberg – 1
Read more about the avalanche near Rotkogel near Solden, Austria from the following sources:
All information in this post was found using Google Translate. There may be errors in this information. Please use the sources listed above to verify all facts.
