© Valais Police
© Valais Police
Deadly Avalanche in La Tzoumaz This Weekend
2 Freeride skiers sadly died after being caught in an avalanche
The Valais Police have confirmed that two freeride skiers were sadly killed in an avalanche near La Tzoumaz over the weekend.
Four skiers had apparently skied into an area of La Tzoumaz / Riddes, triggering a 250 by 200 metres avalanche. All of the party were wearing air bags and were fully equipped with avalanche search and rescue equipment.
One skier was trapped against a tree as the slide started and the other apparently had her back pack ripped from her with the force of the avalanche. These two people sadly died, and the other two in the group were rescued without serious injury.
4FrntSkis that one of the pair worked with posted the following tribute to him and details about what happened on facebook
"We have some sad news. There was a massive avalanche in Verbier, Switzerland yesterday. In the area of Tzoumaz/Riddes to be exact, four people rode into the backcountry and triggered the 250x200 meters avalanche. One of them was Minh, our swiss sales rep. He died around 2:30pm.
We send our condolences to Minh’s family and friends today. His great spirit and enthusiasm for the mountains and skiing will be missed. This was a guy who was both a rep and an athlete fully skiing to work and working to ski. He loved what he did to the fullest extent. We may have not ever said it enough but thank you so much for your dedication and passion for the sport.
"Further details - The area reported to have had heavy winds and a really bad snow base in the last 2 weeks. It started dumping about 8 days ago and conditions for backcountry skiing were really bad in terms of avalanche danger. Fresh snow on blank ice. They skied into an area with some trees in it and most likely thought it wasn't that critical. Another party was on the other side of the valley and saw them dropping in. Rescue teams sent 3 helicopters and some skiers that saw what happened helped to find them. Two of the party survived but Minh and a friend of his didn't. Ski in Peace Minh. You will be missed."
The group were said to have been made up of a number of elite skiers who had competed in the world of freeride skiing.
Our thoughts are with their family and friends of all those affected.
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The video below shows a controlled avalanche on 15th January on the road leading up to La Tzoumaz.
