There have now been at least 5 people killed and 3 more still missing in Switzerland this weekend.
They've just found a 4th body from the Avalanche that Admin mentioned and the reports are saying that 3 more are still missing. The rescue worker who was killed was a doctor from the Rega rescue service.
In the other Avalanche in Wallis(
Bruson) one person was killed and another person was brought to hospital with Hypothermia.
The media is also reporting a few other avalanches which buried people, but they were rescued by companions. There was also an incident in Zermat where two adults and three children set off an avalanche which went across an open piste in the resort.
I was in Berner Oberland on Saturday and there had been quite a bit of new snow with a lot of wind loading on certain slopes. I saw a few groups making their way up some pretty heavily loaded slopes. Be careful out there if you go off piste. The avalanche risk is still considerable for most of the Swiss Alps.
In the week up to 31st December the SLF are reporting 15 Avalanches with 22 people buried!!! All of these people luckily survived. If you understand French or German there is a weekly bulletin which is addition to the daily national and regional bulletins available from
here.
SLF wrote:In der Wochenberichtsperiode wurden dem Lawinenwarndienst 15 Lawinen mit insgesamt etwa 22 (Unsicherheit in einer Meldung) erfassten Personen gemeldet. 10 Lawinen gingen an Steilhängen südlicher Expositionen ab. Die Höhen lagen zwischen 2100 und 3100 m. Lawinenabgänge mit Todesfolge ereigneten sich glücklicherweise keine.
In Anzère überführte am Sonntag, 27.12. eine durch Freerider ausgelöste Schneebrettlawine eine geöffnete Skipiste, was sehr selten vorkommt. Glücklicherweise wurde auf der Skipiste niemand verschüttet.