Four Skiers Die in Swiss Alps in Three Separate Incidents

20th May 2024

In one incident a group of three people was ascending the north face of the Pigne d’Arolla on the Haute Route between Chamonix and Zermatt when the avalanche struck.

Two were swept 800m down the mountain.

The third person was not caught and alerted the rescue authorities.

According to the local newspaper Lecco Notizie, the deceased are 36-year-old Massimo “Max” Ratti and 49-year-old Valentino Alquà.

Both were from Germanedo, near Lecco in Italy.

The deceased were both well-known in the Italian mountaineering community and were highly respected.

Ratti worked for the Asen Park Mountaineering group while Alquà other worked for the Alpine Rescue in Bione.

Their bodies have been recovered and an investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office is underway.

A ski tourer was also killed in an avalanche on the Piz Palü in the canton of Graubünden on Sunday.

The 38-year-old was swept several hundred metres down the mountain according to local police.

His touring partner was unharmed.

Also on Sunday, a ski tourer fell to his death on the Breithorn mountain above Zermatt.

Police said that the 26-year-old Swiss man slipped on an icy patch and fell around 300m.

The two people who had been accompanying the victim were unharmed.

The avalanche death toll in Switzerland last winter currently stands at 23, which is around the annual average.

Across Europe there have been 68 avalanche deaths  in the 2023/24 season which is below the annual average.