Eight Skiers Die in Avalanches in Austria in One Day

18th January 2026

Last modified on January 19th, 2026

An avalanche hit a group of seven skiers in the Pongau area near Salzburg, killing four and seriously injuring one on Saturday.

The mountain rescue service said it was alerted around 2pm local time.

Four rescue helicopters, mountain rescue and Red Cross dog teams, and a crisis intervention team were deployed to the scene.

In another avalanche three Czech skiers were killed in the Pusterwald area of ​​the Murtal district in Styria.

Seven skiers were caught up in that avalanche in central Austria including the three who were completely buried.

The remaining four were evacuated to safety.

“Emergency responders were able to locate and partially dig out the buried victims,” said the locla police in a statement.

“Despite immediate rescue efforts, the three individuals were found dead.”

Also on Saturday a female skier was buried by an avalanche in open alpine terrain near the same area.

She was skiing with her husband in Bad Hofgastein at an altitude of 2,200m.

“Our deepest sympathies go out to the families,” said Gerhard Kremser, district head of the Pongau mountain rescue service.

“This tragedy painfully demonstrates how serious the current avalanche situation is.”

Further avalanches were recorded in the Pongau region around midday, but no-one was injured.

Avalanche in Pongau. Image c/o Pongau Mountain Rescue Service

Around 20-50 cms of snow has recently fallen in the Austrian Alps.

The fresh snow is poorly bonded to older snow causing repeated avalanches and skiers are being urged to exercise extreme caution.

The risk of avalanches on Saturday was rated at Level 3 (considerable) on a level of 5 for some high altitude regions of the Austrian Alps

The authorities have been giving “clear and repeated warnings” about the avalanche risk.

There have been 11 avalanche deaths in Austria this winter – the annual average is 19.

In Switzerland there have been further fatalities.

A German man has been killed in an avalanche and four other people were hurt as they were cross-country skiing.

The incident happened on Friday, on the Piz Badus peak near the village of Tujetsch in the centre-south of the country.

Police said a group of seven cross-country skiers were swept up in the avalanche, with five of them buried underneath.

One member of the party raised the alarm in a phone call to local police, who deployed helicopters with rescue workers and dogs to the site.

The German man was found lifeless under the snow and ice, the police said.

The four others hurt – whose nationalities were not given – suffered light injuries and were flown to nearby hospitals.

Earlier a 42-year old Swiss skier died in an avalanche.

A group of four ski tourers was in the Pointe de Chemo area in the Valais municipality of Chamoson.

While they were descending the eastern flank at an altitude of around 2,500m an avalanche broke loose and swept three of them away.

The avalanche danger was Level 3 at the time, meaning there was a ‘considerable’ risk of avalanche.

After being alerted by the fourth tourer,rescue teams from the Cantonal Valais Rescue Organisation, supported by two helicopters from Air-Glaciers and an aircraft from Air Zermatt were deployed.

They were able to locate and rescue two buried people.

Despite first aid provided, a 42-year-old man died at the scene of the accident.

A 41-year-old man was injured and flown by helicopter to the Inselspital Bern.

A 53-year-old woman, who was outside the snow mass, was also injured and transported by helicopter to Sion Hospital.

All three are Swiss nationals.

The public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation.

The avalanche danger level remains ‘considerable’ (Level 3) on Sunday across large parts of the Swiss Alps.

Avalanche danger in Switzerland for Sunday 18th January. Image c/o Swiss Avalanche Institute.

The Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) has described the start of the year as “tragic”.

Authorities across the Alps are continuing to advise extreme caution of piste as the snowpack is highly unstable in places.

Of the twenty three recent avalanche deaths,  eleven happened in Austria, six in France, five in Switzerland, one in Italy.

At PlanetSKI we expect these numbers to rise.

They caught a wide variety of people including holidaymakers, a ski patroller, a former Olympic snowboarder, ski tourers and a thirteen year old boy.

It is not just the Alps that has been hit by avalanche fatalities.

Two people died on Sunday, buried by avalanches while off-piste skiing in the Pyrenees.

A skier died in Baqueira Beret in Spain.

The man was caught in an avalanche and was rescued alive by emergency services, but ultimately succumbed to his injuries.

The avalanche risk was at Level 4 – ‘High’.

Another person died after being buried by an avalanche while skiing off-piste in the Aragonese Pyrenees in Spain.

It is the fifth person in less than a month to have died buried by an avalanche in the Aragonese Pyrenees, after three people died on December 29 while ski touring on the western slope of Tablato peak.

 See here for PlanetSKI updates on the avalanche accidents since last weekend:

• 13 year old boy is latest avalanche fatality
• More avalanches in the Alps with ‘high’ risk in places
• Three dead in avalanches in France