Avalanche winter 1951 ¶
A state of emergency in Switzerland ¶
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Far above-average precipitation in November, January and February led to the disaster. In mid-January alone, it snowed for 88 hours without interruption. This amount of fresh snow of up to 250 cm only occurs every fifty to one hundred years. The facts:
- Two sad highlights in January and February
- Well over a thousand reported avalanches
- 98 fatalities
- 234 buried victims
- 235 head of cattle killed
- Around 1500 buildings destroyed
- Particularly affected: Airolo (TI), Andermatt (UR) and Vals (GR)
- Financial damage in the low, triple-digit million range (adjusted for inflation)
- 30,000 kilograms of consumer goods dropped from aircraft over cut-off communities in 167 flight hours
In a series, the SLF explains how the disaster occurred, how it has intensified research into avalanche protection, from protective forests to avalanche barriers and hazard maps - and how it is helping to make life safer for people in Switzerland today.
Avalanche winter 1951: The series ¶
Read here: ¶
- from January 27, 2026, how SLF research helped to improve protective structures after the avalanche winter
- from February 3, 2026, how SLF researchers began to develop hazard maps and what they reveal
- from Febraury 9, 2026, what knowledge the SLF has gained on the subject of protective forests in the decades since 1951