Swiss police have confirmed that a train derailment caused by an avalanche near the town of Goppenstein on Monday left five people injured. The incident occurred as large areas of the western Alps remain under a category 5 avalanche risk – the highest level on the European warning scale.
The derailment is the latest in a series of avalanche-related incidents across the Alps in recent days. On Friday, two British skiers and a French national were killed in an avalanche in Val d’Isère, France. The Albertville prosecutor, Benoît Bachelet, said the ski instructor accompanying the group tested negative for alcohol and drugs, and another Briton sustained minor injuries.
On Sunday, an avalanche on the Italian side of Mont Blanc claimed the lives of two skiers. The incident occurred near Courmayeur in the Couloir Vesses, a popular off-piste route. These deaths follow a record 13 fatalities in the Italian mountains during the week ending 8 February, including ten from avalanches, according to Alpine Rescue.
Alpine Rescue has attributed the dangerous conditions to fresh snowfall, windswept snowcaps, and weak internal layers, creating an exceptionally unstable snowpack. Federico Catania, a spokesperson for Italy’s Alpine Rescue Corps, warned that “the passage of a single skier, or natural overloading from the weight of snow, can be sufficient to trigger an avalanche.”
Storm Nils has deposited between 60cm and 100cm of snow across the Alps, with a further 40-50cm expected in some areas. Luc Nicolino, slopes manager at La Plagne, described the snowpack as “a kind of mille-feuille with many hidden, fragile layers.” Adventure skier Daniel Matthews, who survived being buried for eight minutes in Tignes on Friday, admitted on Instagram that he made “a very bad decision” by ignoring warning signs.
