WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF

Avalanches and avalanche accidents

We keep a database containing detailed records of avalanche events, including full details of all fatal accidents since 1936/37. This data set is not only an important basis for avalanche hazard maps. It also allows us to analyse long-term trends and thereby assess the effectiveness of prevention measures.

Topics

Avalanche accidents in current year

Here you will find a table containing an overview of the fatal avalanche accidents that have occurred during the current hydrological year to date.

All reported avalanche accidents in current year

Overview of all accidents known to SLF during the current year.

Avalanche accidents during the last 20 years

Here you will find an overview about the fatal avalanche accidents in the last 20 year.

Long-term statistics

The SLF has been collecting comprehensive data on all the avalanche accidents that have occurred in Switzerland since the winter of 1936/37.

Accident reports and publications

The accident reports and selected publications give you more detailed insights to avalanche accidents.

Accident data

Data on avalanche accidents can be obtained here.

Analysing avalanche events

We record and analyse avalanche disasters in order to draw lessons from such extreme events and deal with them more effectively in future.

Services and products

Extracts from the destructive avalanche database

The SLF maintains a database record of all known avalanches since 1936 that have caused personal injury or property damage. The very extensive destructive avalanche database, which is without parallel worldwide, now encompasses 15,000 records.

Gutachten Lawinenunfall

Am SLF gibt es einen Pool von Experten, die für Lawinengutachten aufgeboten werden und die Schnee- und Lawinenlage vor Ort untersuchen können.

Projects

Avalanche Safety for Roads

In this project we develop and combine cutting-edge remote sensing technology with snow depth distribution and RAMMS avalanche modelling. With this we want to improve the decision base for road safety in the Dischma valley in Davos.

Development of a seismo-acoustic avalanche detection system

How can avalanche activity be determined in bad visibility and in remote regions? In cooperation with Geopraevent and Altecno, we are developing a combined system of seismic and infrasound sensors for the detection and localization of avalanches.

Data for Action: Enabling Weather, Water and Climate Services for Disaster Risk Reduction in Tajikistan

The soil in Tajikistan is exhausted - a consequence of deforestation, overgrazing and climate change.

CCAMM Task 1.0: Downscaling Meorological forcings

The WSL program Climate Change Impacts on Alpine Mass Movements (CCAMM) comprises projects covering a range of topics in natural hazards. Most investigations use models and thus require climate forcing data. The aim of this task is to provide meteorological forcings at the slope scale and in high temporal resolution.

Large scale avalanche hazard indication maps

Large scale avalanche hazard indication maps for Graubünden and Liechtenstein.

"Are more and more people falling victim to avalanches? Or have the numbers decreased in recent years?" It isn't just the media and public who want to know about recent trends in avalanche fatalities. Organisations involved in avalanche and accident prevention are also interested in such questions. To answer them, we need the most comprehensive and long-term statistics possible on destructive avalanches and avalanche accidents. In 1998, the SLF began recording in a database all known avalanches since 1936 that caused personal injury or property damage. The very extensive destructive avalanche database, which is without parallel worldwide, now contains 15,000 records. This makes it easier to retrieve and examine accident data.

Selected accidents involving personal injury and property damage are featured in our winter reports. Published since 1936, these reports document accidents and accident statistics, as well as detailing weather and snowpack development and avalanche activity. We also regularly publish statistical analyses of avalanche accidents. Informing the public by means of these analyses, with a view to avalanche prevention, is one of our fundamental objectives.

Investigating authorities and insurers sometimes ask the SLF for expert opinions in the wake of avalanche accidents or cases of injury or damage. We also provide data about snow, wind and temperature or destructive avalanches.

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