Interim result: More deaths but fewer injuries on the ski slopes

This confirms what has already been ventilated: With 13 deaths in the organized ski room so far, there are significantly more than in the same period (November 1 to January 3) of previous seasons, but the number of injuries is “below average” at 505 in comparison, it said .

For comparison: last season, as of January 3, there were still four deaths on the slopes across Austria, and six in the full pre-Corona season 2018/2019. Only in the 2013/2014 season there were 14 more deaths in the period mentioned. Of the 13 deaths on slopes and ski routes so far, eleven have been in Tyrol, one in Salzburg and one in Styria.

However, it is striking that five of the 13 winter sports enthusiasts had fatal accidents due to cardiovascular failure and were therefore not directly due to the external conditions. In the previous season there had been one in the same period, in the previous years also only one or two. In addition to the cardiovascular causes, seven falls with impacts against obstacles and one collision cost the life. According to the Board of Trustees, falls and collisions are generally the main causes of accidents for the injured. Seven of the 13 fatalities were under 30 years old.

505 injured in the current season

While there have been “only” 505 injuries so far this season, the average for the past ten years was 709. Last year the statistics showed 671 injuries in the same period. In the last pre-Corona season 2018/2019, more injuries were recorded with 599. Roughly the same picture is shown in the “accident” section. 735 have been recorded so far this year, and 949 in the previous season.

“Seriously injured” are not recorded in the statistics of the Board of Trustees. Because whether someone is seriously injured and what is subsumed under this term can only be determined after a corresponding diagnosis in the hospital. “The alpine police cannot clearly assess and determine the severity of the injury, only the doctors in the hospital can,” emphasized Martin Loitlesberger, the alpine training manager in the Ministry of the Interior.

ÖKAS President Peter Paal took the same line. However, the conditions would indicate that there are more serious accidents and thus serious injuries this year. Something similar was recently heard from the Innsbruck clinic. “If someone falls, a slight fall is already difficult in these conditions. If someone falls heavily, the injuries are all the more serious at the moment,” Paal summed it up.

Conditions remain challenging

According to the statisticians, 54 percent of those injured over the past ten years were men and 45 percent were women. In essence, there was no significant deviation from this in the current season, it said.

The conditions for winter sports enthusiasts would remain challenging until the next heavy snowfall events, all emergency organizations warned in a joint broadcast. In the current conditions, there is an increased risk of serious injury in a fall, especially if you go over the edge of the slope. That’s why the “basic rules for safe snow sports” must be observed in particular now, which means, among other things: Driving appropriately, checking equipment, warming up and improving your own skills.