Avalanche Kills 21-Year-Old Skier On Segna Glacier On Surenjoch In Graubünden, Switzerland
Flims, Graubünden, Switzerland – On May 5, 2016 a 21-year-old ski tourer from Mels, St. Gallen was killed in an avalanche on the Segna Glacier on Surenjoch near the community of Flims, in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland.
The victim was ski touring with three relatives who were all en route to Piz Sardona. The avalanche was triggered as the victim traversed a southeast slope below Surenjoch. A second slab broke after the first. The victim was caught, buried, and killed in the avalanche.
The ski tourer’s companions responded quickly. As did Swiss Rega and Alpine Rescue Pizol, but unfortunately the 21-year-old was dead at the scene.
SLF.ch writes that the avalanche occurred on Surenjoch, Glatschiu dil Segnas (Segna Glacier) on an East aspect at approximately 2890 meters. One skier was caught, buried, and killed in the avalanche. The avalanche danger rating at the time was 2 out of 5. See a map marking the location of the avalanche here. EAWS calls it a size 3 avalanche and notes its coordinates at 46.9132° N/9.2466° E. Photos of the avalanche at Kapo.sg.ch.
This is the 19th avalanche fatality in Switzerland during the 2015/2016 hydrological year (October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016. There have been 14 backcountry fatalities and 5 off piste fatalities.
We will try to update this post when more information is available.
Map marks location of Surenjoch.
Read more about the avalanche on Surenjoch near Flims, Switzerland from these sources:
- SLF.ch Avalanche Report
- SLF.ch Map of Avalanche Location
- EAWS Avalanche Report
- Kapo.Sg.Ch
- Nachrichten.ch
- Taggblatt.ch
