Update 8 January  Sion, Valais, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Police in Valais say that the information published by Le Matin concerning an avalanche Sunday 3 January was incorrect: the seven skiers caught by an avalanche that ended on a groomed slope had been skiing off-piste and set off the avalanche themselves. The group included five young people, ages 11-19. The two adults in the group, a 51-year-old Geneva man and a 44-year-old French woman, have been reported to the magistrate (judge) named to investigate the case. The newspaper had reported earlier that three young people, not part of the group, were arrested by police for setting off the avalanche.

Anzères freeriders who set off avalanche reported

The police also announced Monday that they have reported three freeriders to the magistrate investigating an avalanche that hit a groomed slope at Ayent, near Anzères, 27 December. A 34-year-old Valais woman and two men from Neuchatel, one age 32 and the other 42, joined the initial search for people caught by the avalanche, but then left the area without giving their names. They did not respond to police notices and a press release inviting them to turn themselves in, police note, but the police investigation turned up their names.

The ski-touring person who died when he and his guide were caught by an avalanche in the Val de Bagnes area near Verbier has been identified: a 56-year-old man from Bern.

Police seek Crans-Montana fireworks witnesses

The police are also looking for witnesses to New Year’s midnight celebrations at the Ycoors skating rink in Crans-Montana, where a nine-year-old boy was hurt in the eye by fireworks set off by an unknown person. Tel: +41 27 326 5656.

Also see:

• “Off-piste in Switzerland: risks, responsibilities”, 5 January 2010, GenevaLunch, on fitting the punishment to the avalanche crime
• Swiss avalanche and snow institute’s chart, European Danger Scale with Recommendations

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