“A German skier had to be put in an artificial coma after being buried by an avalanche. The 30-year-old woman was part of a group of seven tourists who decided to leave the groomed pistes and ski elsewhere in Sölden, Tyrol, yesterday (Sun). Three of them were buried by an avalanche shortly after skiing down unmarked territory. While two men aged 35 and 47 managed to free themselves within a few minutes, the woman had to be resuscitated after being buried under one and a half metres of snow for an undisclosed period of time. She was airlifted to a clinic in Innsbruck where doctors decided to put her in an artificial coma.

Officials said that only the woman and another member of the group were equipped with avalanche transceivers. Meanwhile, a 55-year-old skier managed to free himself after being swept away by an avalanche at the Leobner Mountain in Styria. The man suffered nothing but a hypothermia in the incident.

Around one to three dozen skiers, snowboarders and people on ski tours die as a result of avalanches in the Austrian Alps every winter. Mountain rescuers have pointed out that carrying avalanche transceivers can save lives. They also appealed to holidaymakers not to leave marked slopes.” bron: Austrian independent