THE MOST DISASTROUS AVALANCHE EVENTS IN AUSTRIA …

THE MOST DISASTROUS AVALANCHE EVENTS IN AUSTRIA SINCE 1946/47

Peter Höller*Austrian Research Centre for Forests, Department of Natural Hazards; Innsbruck, Austria

ABSTRACT: Avalanches are one of the principal natural hazards in alpine regions, resulting frequently indisastrous accidents. In this paper accidents with 5 or more than 5 fatalities were defined as a disastrousevent. Taking into account this definition, 47 disastrous avalanches occurred in the last 70 years. These47 events claimed 474 fatalities. The events with the highest number of fatalities occurred in Blons (1954)where two huge avalanches within 9 hours reached the village and killed 56 inhabitants, and in Galtür(1999) where 31 people lost their lives. Both events rank to the so-called ‘catastrophic avalanches’.The most serious `tourist avalanche‘ took place in 1982 near to Werfenweng where 13 skiers have beenkilled. The most recent event was an accident in the Wattener Lizum with 5 fatalities which occurred inFebruary 2016.While `catastrophic avalanches´ generally are correlated with heavy snowfall, `tourist avalanches´ can beassociated not only with new snow but also with a weak snowpack and increasing temperatures. Thedecreasing trend in the case of `catastrophic avalanches´ undoubtedly is a result of the high standard oftechnical protective measures in Austria; however, fatalities caused by ‘tourist avalanches’ predominatedin the last 35 to 45 years which can be explained by a rising number of skiers and mountaineers.

KEYWORDS: avalanche accidents, avalanche fatalities, avalanche history

1. INTRODUCTION

In order to indicate an avalanche accident as adisastrous event the number of fatalities, thenumber of destroyed buildings, or the resultingcosts can be used. With respect to an earlier paperof the author (Höller, 2009) we defined accidentswith 5 or more than 5 fatalities as a disastrousevent.Taking into account the preceding definition,47 disastrous avalanches occurred in the last 70years, including both ‘catastrophic avalanches’[‘catastrophic avalanches’ are naturally triggeredand are able to affect settlements anddeveloped areas (de Quervain, 1972)] and ‘touristavalanches’ [‘tourist avalanches’ primarily aretriggered by skiers and generally occur in thebackcountry and off-piste (de Quervain, 1972)].This analysis is based on own inquiries as well ason Fliri (1998), Haid (2007) and Schott (2005).Due to limited space the paper will give only a briefoutline of the most outstanding events; moreinformation can be found in Höller (2015).________________________________________*Corresponding author address:Peter HöllerHofburg - Rennweg 1A - 6020 Innsbruck,AUSTRIATel: +43 512 573933, fax: +43 512 573933 5250e-mail: [email protected]

2. AVALANCHE ACCIDENTS IN AUSTRIA

During the last 70 years, approximately 2000persons have been killed by avalanches in Austria,which corresponds to about 30 fatalities per year.While the vast majority of avalanche accidentscaused one or two fatalities, 47 events wereidentified with each 5 or more than 5 fatalities. Intotal these accidents claimed 474 fatalities.The events with the highest number of fatalitiesoccurred in Blons (1954) where two hugeavalanches within 9 hours reached the village andkilled 56 inhabitants, and in Galtür (1999) where 31people lost their lives. Both events rank to the so-called ‘catastrophic avalanches’. The most serious‘tourist avalanche’ took place in 1982 near toWerfenweng where 13 skiers have been killed.The most recent event was an accident in theWattener Lizum with 5 fatalities which occurred inFebruary 2016.The following table (Tab.1) gives an overviewabout these events.

3. OUTSTANDING EVENTS – A BRIEF OUTLINE

The winter 1950/51 was – together with 1953/54 –the period with the most victims. The historicalrecords list nearly 300 fatalities (135 in 1950/51and 143 in 1953/54). The two most seriousaccidents in 1950/51 occurred in Heiligenblut

Proceedings, International Snow Science Workshop, Breckenridge, Colorado, 2016

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Year Date Federal State Community Site Type Fatalities

1947 April 5 Steiermark St. Ilgen Hochschwab - G‘hackte T 6

1947 Dec. 22 Salzburg Dienten Oberholzlehen C 6

1949 July 21 Tirol Prägraten Simonyspitzen T 5

1951 Jan. 20 Tirol Tux Magnesitwerk C+ 9

1951 Jan. 21 Tirol Hippach Schwendberg C 10

1951 Jan. 21 Tirol Sölden Untergurgl C 7

1951 Jan. 21 Kärnten Heiligenblut Lawine Weiße Wand C 12

1951 Jan. 21 Kärnten Mallnitz Dösental C 5

1951 Jan. 21 Salzburg Bad Gastein Kötschachtal C 14

1952 Feb.11 Vorarlberg Mittelberg Hoher Ifen C++ 20

1952 March 21 Tirol Galtür Lareintal C+ 7

1952 Dec. 20 Tirol Wildermieming Felderjöchl T 5

1952 Dec. 22 Vorarlberg Klösterle Passürtobellawine C 24

1954 Jan. 11 Vorarlberg Blons Falvkopf-Lawine C 34

1954 Jan. 11 Vorarlberg Blons Mont Calv-Lawine C 22

1954 Jan. 11 Vorarlberg Sonntag Lochbrunnenlawine C 6

1954 Jan. 11 Vorarlberg Fontanella Stelli-Lawine C 8

1954 Jan. 11 Vorarlberg Hittisau Sippersegg-Lawine C 7

1954 Jan. 11 Vorarlberg Bartholomähberg Montjolalawine C 15

1954 Jan. 12 Vorarlberg Dalaas Muttentobellawine C 10

1955 Dec. 5 Salzburg Kaprun Ebmattenlawine C+ 15

1956 Jan. 28 Vorarlberg Klösterle Valfagehrjoch-Schindlerrinne T 6

1956 April 18 Tirol Finkenberg Hornkees T 8

1963 March 31 Tirol Grinzens Kemater Alm T 9

1964 March 2 Tirol St. Leonhard Aufstieg Braunschweigerhütte T 6

1965 March 2 Salzburg Untertauern Weißlahn CK*++

14

1965 March 29 Tirol Matrei i. Osttirol Felbertauern-Südportal C+ 6

1968 Jan. 27 Vorarlberg Klösterle Bazzig-Lawine C 8

1973 Feb. 4 Tirol Gerlos Brunellkopf T 10

1973 Feb. 27 Salzburg Bad Gastein Radhausberg-BlumfeldLawine

C+ 6

1973 April 11 Tirol Sölden Schalfkogel TT

5

1974 Dec. 21 Tirol Kitzbühel Steinbergkogel T+ 9

1974 Dec. 31 Vorarlberg St. Gallenkirch Schmalzberg-Nova-Lawine T+ 12

1975 March 31 Kärnten Mallnitz Lubitzgrabenlawine C 8

1975 May 9 Tirol Tannheim Vilsalpsee T++ 5

1977 Dec. 31 Salzburg Lofer Loferer Hochtal T 8

1978 May 1 Tirol St. Leonhard Mittelbergferner T 5

1982 Jan. 31 Salzburg Werfenweng Wengbachgraben T 13

1987 April 5 Tirol Ischgl Greitspitze T+++ 6

1988 March 13 Tirol St. Anton Wolfsgrubenlawine C 7

1988 March 28 Tirol Galtür Jamtal T 6

1999 Feb. 23 Tirol Galtür Wasserleiter Lawine C 31

1999 Feb. 24 Tirol Ischgl Riefenbach Lawine C 7

1999 Dec. 28 Tirol Galtür Jamtal TT

9

2000 March 28 Salzburg Niedernsill Schmiedinger T+++ 12

2009 May 2 Tirol Sölden Schalfkogel T 6

2016 Feb. 6 Tirol Wattenberg Geier T 5

Tab. 1: Disastrous avalanche events in Austria in chronological order. C… catastrophic avalanche,C+…avalanche towards an alpine construction area (road works, construction site of a power station…),C++…avalanche towards a mountain hut, T… tourist avalanche (backcountry), T+…avalanche within skiarea, T++…avalanche towards a hiking trail, T+++…avalanche in the off-piste area.


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(federal state of Carinthia) with 12 fatalities (onepath of the avalanche reached several buildings atthe eastern entrance of the village – see Fig. 1)and near to Bad Gastein (Fig.2) where a couple offarm houses were destroyed (14 fatalities).

Fig. 1: Avalanche-ravaged east entrance ofHeiligenblut (Photo: Archive Verbund)

Fig. 2: Destroyed farm houses near to Bad Gastein(Photo: Archive Gasteiner Museum)

The most serious accident on an open road datedfrom December 1952. Near to Langen am Arlberg(Vorarlberg) a fully occupied bus was hit by anavalanche(Fig. 3); 24 passengers have been killed.

Fig. 3: Buried bus in the river Alfenz (Photo:Voralberger Landesarchiv, BH Bludenz)

13 months later (Jan. 1954) the federal state ofVorarlberg was again affected by manyavalanches. After a long-lasting period of warmand sunny weather which continued untilChristmas 1953, the snowpack at the beginning ofJanuary 1954 did not even reach 15 cm (Dobler,1982). However, between Jan. 9 and Jan. 11,1954 a north westerly oriented frontal zone led tohigh new snow depth in the northern part of theAustrian Alps, in particular in Vorarlberg.The first disaster occurred in Blons, where twohuge avalanches within 9 hours reached thevillage and killed 56 inhabitants (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4: One of many affected buildings in Blons(Photo: Archive Eugen Dobler)


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In the evening of the same day (Jan. 11) anavalanche reached the community ofBartholomähberg and destroyed 6 residentialbuildings (15 fatalities).On the following day (Jan. 12) an avalanchedamaged the railway station of Dalaas (Fig. 5) andclaimed 10 lives (Fig. 5).

Fig. 5: Destroyed railway station in Dalaas (Photo:Archive Nesensohn-Vallaster)

One of the first backcountry accidents occurred inApril 1956. Eight skiers were hit by an avalanche inthe valley bottom near the Hornkees (Zillertal -Tirol). The avalanche had an outstanding extent(Fig. 6); the deposited snow was up to 10 m. Alleight members of the group have been killed; threeburied humans were found in July.

Fig. 6: Avalanche near to the Hornkees (Photo:Archive Polizeiinspektion Mayrhofen)

At the beginning of March 1965 a tragic accidenttook place on the road to Obertauern (federal stateof Salzburg) when an avalanche hit a passing buswhereby 14 person have been killed.

December 1974 was characterized by twoavalanche accidents in ski areas, which caused anintensive discussion about adequate avalanchecontrol programmes. The first was on Dec. 21 nearto the Steinbergkogel (community of Kitzbühel)where 9 skiers have been killed (Fig. 7); thesecond occurred 10 days later in the ski areaSilvretta Nova with 12 fatalities.

Fig. 7: Rescue team in the Steinbergkogelrinne(Photo: Korn, Stadtarchiv Kitzbühel)

The most serious accident in the backcountry tookplace in January 1982 when - under the directionof a mountain guide - a group of students and theirteachers were skiing the so-calledWengbachgraben (community of Werfenweng).


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The avalanche hit the group in the gully andclaimed 13 victims.A heavy snowstorm from March 12 to March 13,1988 (110 cm of new snow in 24 hours) released a

Fig. 8: Run-out zone of the Wolfsgrubenlawine(Photo: H. Schaffhauser).

Fig. 9: Main release zones (top right and top left)and secondary release zones (northwest slopes ofthe lateral moraine) of the avalanche in the Jamtal(Photo: Archive Landespolizeikommando Tirol).

huge avalanche nearby the so-called Zwölferkopfand damaged several buildings (Fig. 8) in St.Anton a. Arlberg where 7 people have been killed.

Two weeks later (March 28, 1988) a hugeavalanche claimed 6 backcountry skiers in thevalley bottom of the Jamtal (Fig. 9).

In February 1999 the European Alps were affectedby several frontal zones approaching from thenorth-west. Due to an area of high pressure overthe Bay of Biscay and an area of low pressure overScandinavia the Alps received moist air from theAtlantic and cold air from the Arctic. This situationled to intensive precipitation in the Arlberg-Außerfern- and Paznaun area and to many largeavalanches.With 31 fatalities the avalanche of Galtür (Feb. 23,1999) was the most serious single accident inAustria since 1954 (Fig. 10).One day later another avalanche in close vicinity toGaltür claimed 7 victims. The avalanche occurredin Valzur which is a small village associated withthe community of Ischgl.

Fig. 10: Run-out zone of the Wasserleiterlawine(Photo. P. Höller).

The winter period 1999/2000 was characterized bytwo major backcountry accidents.The first was in December 1999 where 9backcountry skiers have been killed in the Jamtal(Tirol). The second accident took place in March2000 nearby the Schmiedinger (Salzburg) and hit agroup of off-piste skiers (Fig. 11) resulting in 12fatalities.

The most recent event occurred in the previous


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winter season (Feb. 6, 2016) when a group of

Fig. 11: Release zone and path of the avalanchenear to the Schmiedinger (Photo: Archive FranzDeisenberger)

Fig. 12: Deposition zone of the avalanche close tothe Geierspitze (Photo. P. Höller).

backcountry skiers was on the way to the so-calledGeier (Tirol). The avalanche (Fig. 12) released asthe group was ascending a steep slope inapproximately 2700 m; 5 skiers have been killed.

4. CONCLUSIONS

Taking into account exclusively the 47 disastrousevents described in this paper, about 1/3 of thefatalities are backcountry and off-piste skiers, while2/3 of the avalanche victims result from‘catastrophic avalanches’. However, considering allavalanche accidents with fatalities, this proportionis precisely the revers: 1/3 of the fatalities due to‘catastrophic avalanches’ and 2/3 in thebackcountry (Höller, 2007).While ‘catastrophic avalanches’ generally arecorrelated with heavy snowfall, ‘tourist avalanches’can be associated not only with new snow but alsowith a weak snowpack and increasingtemperatures.The highest number of fatalities in the case of‘catastrophic avalanches’ can be found in the1950s, and 1960s. Since that time a decreasingtrend is obvious. This trend undoubtedly is a resultof the high standard of technical protectivemeasures in Austria.On the other hand fatalities caused by ‘touristavalanches’ predominated in the last 35 to 45years, which can be explained by a rising numberof skiers and mountaineers. This fact induces ahigher probability of occurrence (as more peopleare on the way in alpine and high alpine regions)and thus a higher risk.

REFERENCES

de Quervain, M. 1972: Lawinenbildung. In:Lawinenschutz in der Schweiz, Bd. 9 der ReiheBündnerwald, Beiheft, pp 15–32.

Dobler, E. 1982: Leusorg im großen Walsertal.Selbstverlag Eugen Dobler, Blons, 250pp.

Fliri, F. 1998: Naturchronik von Tirol,Universitätsverlag Wagner, Innsbruck, 369pp.

Haid, H. 2007: Mythos Lawine. Studienverlag,Innsbruck, 262pp.


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Höller, P. 2007: Avalanche hazards and mitigationin Austria: a review. Natural Hazards, 43, 81-101.

Höller, P. 2009: Avalanche cycles in Austria: ananalysis of the major events in the last 50 years.Natural Hazards, 48, 399-424.

Höller, P. 2015: Lawinen – die größtenKatastrophen in Österreich seit 1946/47. StudiaUniversitätsverlag Innsbruck, 95pp.

Schott, K. 2005: 2000 Jahre Lawinen-Chronik. Diegroßen Lawinenkatastrophen. Alpenvereinsjahr-buch 2005, No.129, 280- 289.


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THE MOST DISASTROUS AVALANCHE EVENTS IN AUSTRIA …