On 9 March 2024, six people left Zermatt on skis bound for Arolla on a high mountain path that links Zerrmatt and Verbier known as the Haute Route. Upon reaching the region near the Tête Blanche pass at around 3,500m bad weather rapidly set in. At around 4pm, one member of the group alerted search and rescue and another managed to call at 5:19pm and provide the group’s location, reported RTS.
At 6:20pm a ground rescue party left Zermatt. However, they could not get above 3,000m because of severe weather conditions consisting of winds of more than 100 km/h and temperatures as low as -18 degrees. After continued attempts, ground rescue was halted at 9:00pm.
Rescue work began again at 5:00am the following day and continued until 9:20pm. With the help of helicopters, rescuers were able to find the bodies of five of the six skiers.
Rescue services had recommended the stranded skiers dig ice caves for shelter. However, the head of Air Zermatt told media that it would have been almost impossible to dig a cave in the hard snow with the light avalanche shovels carried by the group. Two victims were found on the snow while three others were found buried. According to rescuers, they seem to have tried to dig a hole for shelter, but heavy snow had filled the hole. All of the victims froze to death.
On 14 March 2024, rescue services announced they would stop searching for the sixth member of the group, reported SRF.
The five found were all from the same Valais family. Three brothers aged 21, 27 and 30, along with a cousin and an uncle aged 44 and 58. The missing 28 year old woman from the canton of Fribourg was the girlfriend of one of the three brothers.
The hunt for the victims involved 11 helicopters and more than 35 people. Everything possible had been done to try to save these six people, said a spokesperson from the Valais police force.
In April 2000, two people training for the Patrouille des Glaciers perished in the same region. And in 2018, five ski tourers died in nearby Pigne d’Arolla.
More on this:
RTS article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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