Drama on Tete Blanche: 5 ski tourers found dead

The search for the sixth alpinist is continuing, as the Valais cantonal police announced on Monday. The group left Zermatt for Arolla on Saturday morning and had been missing since then. The cause of death of the five ski tourers who died is still unclear.

Rescue workers were dispatched near Dent Blanche on Sunday evening around 7:30 p.m. According to the police, they reached the Tête Blanche area at around 9:20 p.m., where they quickly discovered five of the six people missing since the previous day without any signs of life.

Investigation initiated

According to the police, it cannot be said at this point whether the alpinists froze to death or died in an avalanche. The public prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation into the exact circumstances, said Public Prosecutor Béatrice Pilloud on Monday morning at a media conference in Sion. The formal identification of the victims is also still in progress.

It is known that five of the ski tourers belonged to a Valais family and one victim came from the city of Freiburg, said police commander Christian Varone. According to previous police information, the alpinists were between the ages of 21 and 58. The search for the missing sixth person continues. “We are looking in the area around the Tête Blanche,” said Varone.

Use under extreme conditions

After the alarm was received, all emergency services involved tried everything humanly possible to save the missing people, Varone continued. However, the extreme weather, combined with poor visibility and the risk of avalanches, made it impossible for rescuers to get to the missing people after they had been located. The temperatures were extremely low.

The six ski tourers set off on a tour from Zermatt to Arolla on Saturday. The rescue organization received an alarm late Saturday afternoon. Five of them were found lifeless late on Sunday evening in the area of ​​the Tête Blanche mountain at an altitude of 3,500 meters.

Second highest avalanche warning level

In southern Upper Valais, there was a great danger of avalanches of the second highest warning level, which is only triggered on a few days in winter, as the avalanche warning service of the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF in Davos announced. The second highest danger level applies to the upper Visper valleys, the Simplon area and the Binntal. There was a considerable danger of avalanches in the remaining areas of the Alps.

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