Avalanche in Solden kills 2

The US Ski Team says two of its young racers were killed in an avalanche in Solden today.

The story was reported by Bloomberg News. Read the story here.

Firstly this is obviously a tragic accident, where 2 undoubtedly talented skiers have been killed. It is not appropriate to judge and there has been very little information released on the event itself. However I wonder if the following came into play (observations are from N Alps so may not even be relevant):
European resorts only secure their pistes which is a different philosophy to North America where typically all 'inbound' areas are secured.
Heavy high altitude rain the day before, with upto 30cm of snow above the rain/snow limit (no idea altitude or aspect of event)
The temperature change had been really dramatic, dropping upto 10 degC over only a few hrs as we transitioned from rain to snow.
Only the second powder day of the season for many resorts, with the previous significant snowfall being on the 27th.
4 of 6 were not buried which should have formed a decent rescue party if they were adequately prepared. Would be interesting to know how many were on the slope at once. Very difficult to retain good group discipline if everything 'appears safe', plus I would assume they were all top level skiers, so no need for a sweeper system. Again no details but I would add that people offpiste should always consider having skins. Pointless being 100m below someone in powder with no way to get uphill (think how painful it can be to go 5m to retrieve a ski).

Undoubtedly there will be something from all of us to learn from this one. Following snow on the 27th there were many positive indicators or instability with lots on natural slides especially on steeper N facing slopes. Without this obvious feedback deciding where to ski or not is undoubtedly tricky, with a blanket approach on aspect and angle being the only option. Definitely not easy to stick with this on what has been a lean season. Looking at facebook/webcams seems everyone in Chamonix has been having great fun in L'Avanche Bowl (N facing and plenty of roll overs to trigger small slides) with no problems. As ever wrong time wrong place at least they were undoubtedly doing something they loved.

Yeah, saw it this morning. Agree that different philosophy was likely the factor. There are quite a few pictures on the Interwebs from the site. Looks crazy. Suicide mission to go there unprepared. Sad but hopefully not in vain. With weather all over the place with frequent high winds risk is too high to be anywhere but rolling hills. But too many powder-hungry people as it's often the case during weird seasons.

Come on guys. Why does it always have to be someone or somethings fault! Sounds like an accident, lets leave it at that please.

Not sure people are trying to place blame. Anyone who has spent a considerable amount of time in the mountains be it climbing or skiing will eventually have an incident. Only last week on here openly stated that I caused a small slide, 5m x 5m x 0.2m (about 1500kg of snow), so plenty enough to give you a bad day. What is pointless is not learning from these events. Even the most famous of 'accidents' such as the Challenger disaster had a simple root cause. Life is not about eliminating hazards but rather learning to better manage these situations. Nobody and no process is infallible. Mankind's greatest asset is also our greatest weakness, to explore our limits is to test our physical and mental boundaries, sometimes with tragic consequence.

Quite!

Stating that different philosophy here and in NA is a likely factor is not blaming. Accidents don't just happen, understanding why might help to minimize the risk of being in one.

Yes, being knowledgable and prepared, especially when skiing in the vast expanses of the European Alps where rescue options are typically limited, could save lives. It's a top-down effort - from the race sponsors knowing when, due to conditions and the presence of factors that could result in an avalanche, to participants being equipped with transceivers or RECCO reflectors at the very least. I'f the signs are there, heed them - or don't go.