Avalanche in Stubai Buries Eight Skiers
27th November 2025
Last modified on November 30th, 2025
Eight people were partially buried and two were treated in hospital. Hundreds of people were involved in the rescue operation. Video of the avalanche has been posted. UPDATED
The avalanche struck on Thursday morning outside the marked runs in the Daunscharte pass area of the Austrian ski resort.
It is a popular off piste ski route and is relatively easy to access near to a T-bar lift.
The avalanche occurred around 9.30 am in the area of the “Rote Piste 9”.
Some snow reached a marked piste that was then closed.
No-one on the piste was injured.
See here for an eyewitness video:
A huge search and rescue operation was launched with 250 people involved.
Mountain rescue crews from nearby Neustift im Stubai and Sölden were deployed using specialist gear and avalanche dogs trained to locate survivors.
German soldiers who were in the resort on a training course and Polish mountain rescue teams were also involved.
First reports said nine people caught, but this was then revised down to eight.
The police said all of them were partially buried.
Six managed to free themselves and two were rescued by fellow skiers.
Several are reported to have deployed their air bags and this may have led them to being only partially buried.
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The victims were five Germans, two Bulgarians and one Austrian – five men and three women.
Four people suffered minor injuries, two of whom were flown to a local hospital.
The injured were identified as three Germans:
- A 23-year-old skier with an arm injury
- A 21-year-old who lived in Innsbruck with a knee injury
- A 21-year-old with a minor shoulder injury
The latter was able to ski down unaided.
The other five people were unharmed:
- A 19-year-old Austrian
- Two Bulgarian national aged 27 and 36 living in Innsbruck
- A 40-year-old German resident of Innsbruck
- A 22-year-old German from the Ostallgäu district
It is believed the skiers triggered the avalanche themselves.
The Austrian Alpine Association has warned that that avalanche danger off-piste is currently elevated due to early season conditions.
Stubai has seen 70cms of fresh snow and it has not had time to settle on the existing snowpack.
An investigation is underway.
Stubai is near Innsbruck in the Tirol and has been open since October.
It is one of the most popular resorts in Austria for early season skiing.
It follows heavy snow in recent days as a huge storm swept across the Alps.
On Thursday the storm had passed and it was a generally clear day.
See further details with images of the rescue operation can be viewed at tirol.orf.at
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Innsbruck Ski + City, Stubai. Image © PlanetSKI
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