Accident reports and publications

In the accident reports and in publications, the information on avalanche accidents is prepared and evaluated in detail. This comprehensive information is an important basis for avalanche training, warning and rescue.

Avalanche accident reports

The accident reports, which form the second part of the winter reports (available only in German and French), contain a summary of selected avalanche accidents with a brief description of the event and rescue measures, information on the weather and avalanche situation at the time, and the legal consequences. In view of the elaborate data appraisal operations, the accident descriptions can be published up to one or two years after the winter concerned. These reports, however, are only available in German.

A small selection of examples of these accident reports (translated into English) can be found here.

Publications

  • Survival probability in avalanche victims with long burial (≥60 min): A retrospective study (PDF, 2021)
  • On the correlation between the forecast avalanche danger and avalanche risk taken by backcountry skiers in Switzerland (PDF, 2021)
  • Snow avalanche deaths in Switzerland from 1995 to 2014—Results of a nation-wide linkage study (PDF, 2019)
  • Avalanche accidents causing fatalities: are they any different in the summer? (PDF, 2016)
  • Burial duration, depth and air pocket explain avalanche survival patterns in Austria and Switzerland (abstract, 2016)
  • Avalanche risk in winter backcountry touring: status and recent
    trends in Switzerland (PDF, 2016)
  • Avalanche fatalities in the European Alps: long-term trends and statistics (PDF, 2016)
  • Analysis of avalanche risk factors in backcountry terrain based on usage frequency and accident data in Switzerland (PDF, 2015)
  • Regional patterns of avalanche accidents in Switzerland (PDF, 2015)
  • Avalanche accidents involving people along transportation corridors and the implications for avalanche forecasting operations (PDF, 2014)
  • Patterns of recreational backcountry usage in Switzerland - analyzing data from social media mountaineering networks and avalanche statistics (PDF, 2014)
  • The effectiveness of avalanche airbags (abstract, 2014)
  • Recreational avalanche accidents in Switzerland: Trends and patterns with an emphasis on burial, rescue methods and avalanche danger (Paper, Poster as PDF, 2013)
  • Who is involved in avalanche accidents? (PDF, 2012)
  • Comparison of avalanche survival patterns in Canada and Switzerland (PDF, 2011)
  • New trends of recreational avalanche accidents in Switzerland (PDF, 2008)
  • Developments in avalanche forecasting and other prevention measures and their
    potential effects on avalanche fatalities (PDF, 2008)
  • The impact of avalanche rescue devices on survival (abstract, 2007)
  • Avalanche Risk for recreationists in Backcountry and in Off-Piste Area (PDF, 2006)
  • Legal Consequences of fatal avalanche accidents in the European Alps (PDF, 2006)
  • Avalanche incidents in Switzerland in relation to the predicted danger degree (PDF, 2002)
  • Avalanche Accidents in Back Country Terrain of the Swiss Alps: New Investigations of a 30 Year Database (PDF, 2002)
  • Measurements on human-triggered avalanches from the Swiss Alps (PDF ISSW, abstract peer-reviewed, 2000)
  • Avalanche rescue systems in Switzerland: experience and limitations (PDF, 2000)
  • Destructive snow avalanches and climate change in Switzerland (PDF, 1997)

 

Publications german

Publications french

Publications italian