In Austria, after a series of serious, sometimes fatal accidents on ski slopes over the past few days, there is a discussion about whether the operators should better secure or close the slopes or whether the winter tourists should show more personal responsibility.

The accidents are also associated with climate change: the mild winter temperatures mean that slopes are more icy and some rocky terrain is exposed next to the snow-covered slopes.

Stephen Lowenstein

Political correspondent based in Vienna.

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On Wednesday, the public prosecutor's office in Innsbruck announced that they had started investigations into the Hintertuxer Gletscherbahn and its manager for a fatal skiing accident on New Year's Day in the Zillertal in order to investigate the suspicion of negligent homicide and negligent bodily harm.

It is therefore examined whether the traffic safety obligations have been complied with.

An expert was appointed to determine the exact cause of the accident.

A 28-year-old woman from the Netherlands had fallen on an icy and steep section of the Hintertux Glacier.

According to previous reports, she slipped about 100 meters down the runway, broke through a safety net and was thrown more than 20 meters against a tree in free flight.

A 27 year old friend she was traveling with

also fell there and was seriously injured.

Half an hour later, a 55-year-old German fell in the same section and suffered serious injuries.

At the end of December - also in Tyrol - other serious skiing accidents had happened.

A 47-year-old Belgian came off the piste in the St. Anton ski area on December 29, crashed into a tree and rocks and died at the scene of the accident.

The day before, two 17-year-old teenagers from Germany had rushed over the edge of the piste at high speed in the Steinplatte ski area in Waidring (Kitzbühel district).

They fell over rock-strewn terrain sparsely snow-covered, suffering fatal injuries.

The President of the Austrian Board of Trustees for Alpine Safety (ÖKAS), Peter Paal, spoke emphatically in the Austria Press Agency against closing slopes because of such incidents.

Paal, an anesthetist and intensive care physician at clinics in Salzburg and Innsbruck, said in general that the slopes were "very well prepared for what is currently possible", the operators could not be held liable for accidents.

Rather, more inexperienced skiers are on the move, especially after the Corona period, “ski fitness is decreasing”.

In addition, there is sometimes a certain "comprehensive insurance mentality", but more personal responsibility is necessary.

Artificial snow makes the slopes "pebble hard" in the morning

In addition, there are difficult piste conditions: there is almost no snow off the piste due to the weather, so if drivers overestimate themselves or go too fast over the edge of the piste, there are more dangerous situations.

The artificial snow makes the slopes "pebble-hard" in the morning, and "heaps of snow" appear in the afternoon.

Caution and skill are required.

Overall, there have been fewer accidents in the winter season so far than last year, but more fatal accidents, namely 13 since November 1st in Austria's ski areas.

The President of the Austrian Alpine Club, Andreas Ermacora, pointed out in the ORF that the operators only had to take precautions against those dangers that winter sports enthusiasts do not have to reckon with, for example "cracks over steep terrain or holes on the ski slope".

Trees next to the slope are not such "atypical" dangers.

Many of the fatal accidents are due to their own fault.

"If you drive over the edge of the slope and crash into a tree, that's very tragic, but you can't blame the slope operator for it." not required".

However, these "B networks" were often not sufficient to prevent serious accidents.

Therefore, Ermacora found