Two German ski tourers (34 and 35 years old) were hit by an avalanche on Sunday in the Sellraintal in Tyrol (district of Innsbruck-Land). The 34-year-old was completely buried. But thanks to his comrades, the man was saved. A slab of snow also fell in Oberperfuss (also in Innsbruck-Land).
Around 9 a.m. on Sunday, a group of five went on a ski tour from the “Pforzheimer Hütte” in the direction of “Samerschlag”. At the height between “Metzgerstein” and “Samerschlag” they took off their skis and then skied in the direction of the flat ground in front of the “Pforzheimer Hütte”. “When they got there, they put on their touring skis again and then climbed up in the direction of the ‘Breite Scharte’,” the police said were caught, swept away and buried by the slab of snow. The 34-year-old was completely buried, his 35-year-old comrade partially buried. “The other three tour partners were able to identify the victim’s skis, which were sticking out of the snow masses, in the course of the surface search and then locate the man at a burial depth of around one and a half meters using an avalanche transceiver,” explains the executive. The 34-year-old was flown to the Innsbruck clinic for further medical clarification with the emergency doctor helicopter. After a fall, he injured his knee and ended less severely at around 2 p.m. when a slab of snow fell in Oberperfuss. A 29-year-old German climbed there, accompanied by two friends from Stieglreith, on touring skis over the north ridge to the Rosskogel and was the first to ski down the north gully from the summit. “After about 200 meters of altitude, he triggered a superficial slab of snow in the gully,” said the officials. When he noticed this, the winter sports enthusiast immediately swerved to the right, fell and injured his left knee. The relatively small and superficial slab of snow did not catch him. The German was rescued by the police helicopter and then taken to the clinic in Innsbruck by the ambulance.
