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Teenager Rescues Twin Brother from Avalanche in Austria

A pair of 16-year-old German twin brothers got caught in an avalanche when they ventured off-piste in the Tux ski region in Austria, on Sunday, December 24, 2023. the twins had left the patrolled ski area near Eggalm in the municipality of Tux and triggered an avalanche around 1:10 p.m. The brothers had skied various routes in the area several times that day. The partially buried 16-year-old was freed by his brother but had suffered serious injuries. According to the police report, he had broken his femur and had several rib fractures. A rescue helicopter from HeliRescue, “Alpin 5,” had to be called to get the injured skier off the mountain to the hospital in nearby Schwarz.
More ... (Police Report from Tyrol)

The Story behind UK's deadliest avalanche in Lewes

Newspaper reports from almost 200 years ago cast light on the UK’s deadliest avalanche on record. Eight people were killed and seven homes were destroyed on December 27, 1836, when a huge build-up of snow on a cliff overlooking the town of Lewes collapsed and buried all before it.

Snow built up at the top of Cliffe Hill, to the east of the town, which hung over the ridge and teetered over the town. On Boxing Day, a build-up of snow fell from the top of the hill into a timber yard close to Boulder Row, prompting Robert Higham, the landlord of the Schooner Beerhouse, to warn residents to leave their homes until the danger had passed. However, many residents chose to ignore the warning. A second warning was issued early on Tuesday morning, the day of the tragedy, after another partial fall drove in the window of a bedroom, followed by a third.

Seven houses were crushed in the disaster, burying those trapped inside. A force was formed by a W. Thomas in an attempt to rescue those caught up in the avalanche, but eight people were found dead. A tablet at South Malling Church commemorates those killed when “the poorhouse of this parish was destroyed by a mass of snow”. The Snowdrop Inn, named in commemoration of the disaster, was built four years later in South Street, on the site once occupied by Boulder Row - with its signage depicting the disaster. The disaster was also brought to life in a painting, The Avalanche at Lewes. Painted by an unknown artist, it captures the harrowing day in the aftermath of the disaster, as crowds sought to rescue those trapped.
More ... (The Argus)

Two killed in off-piste avalanche in France

A criminal inquiry was opened in France on Friday following the deaths of a British woman and her son in an off-piste avalanche apparently triggered by other skiers. They were in a group of eight people, made up of a ski instructor and his students, when they were hit at a height of around 2300 meters. Survivors included the women’s British husband who – like the victims – has not yet been publicly named. 

Only the instructor was wearing an ‘avalanche victim detector’, according to the source, who said: "Three out of the eight skiers were buried in the snow, and a search party was mobilised very quickly, after an emergency alarm. The instructor was detected and pulled out, but the man and woman who were buried perished, following a far more complex and long search.

Public prosecutors at Bonneville confirmed that a manslaughter investigation had been launched, with judicial police investigating on site. 
More ... (The Standard)